Universal Pictures Starring: Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, Jewel Staite, Morena Baccarin, Ron Glass, Sean Maher
Directed By: Joss Whedon
Rated: PG-13
Universal Pictures
Once upon a time, in 2002, there was a show on Fox called Firefly. It was a show that defied definition. The 30- and 60-second previews for the program showed what looked like a western set in space. To put it simply, it looked weird. I was certainly one of the (obviously) many people who saw those previews and thought, "Well, I won't be watching that."
Then one Friday night, I had nothing better to do and I turned it on. As soon as the episode was over, I had the VCR set to record it every week.
Every week turned out to be about six weeks. And not six contiguous weeks. Sometimes I rewound the tape and found football. Sometimes I found some other program. Occasionally I found Firefly, and I loved every episode I saw. It was so good it was bound to be cancelled.
And, of course, it was. But not before I absolutely fell in love with the show and its characters. After watching for about 20 minutes, the unlikely western/sci-fi mix doesn't matter a bit. It just goes away. This was a show about characters and how they view and face existence. I came to care more about these characters in the handful of episodes I saw between Fox's preemptions than I did for the crew of Voyager in the entire seven-year run of that show. The show was masterfully written, and the cast and crew obviously cared deeply about what they were doing and believed 150% in the show. It comes through in the final product very clearly.
Seems I wasn't the only one who discovered how good this show was. Long story short (far too late), the DVDs sold like crazy when they were released (the set included three episodes that hadn't been broadcast). So well, in fact, that Universal contacted Joss Whedon (the show's creator, also the creator of the hit shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) and asked him to make a movie. That movie is Serenity.
Serenity takes place at least several months after the end of Firefly. The central story revolves around River Tam (Glau), a girl who was taken by the Alliance (the central government of the Firefly universe) and subjected to horrifying mind-altering experiments. River is a genius and a gifted psychic, and it was the Alliance's mission to see how they could best exploit those talents. Her brother Simon (Maher) broke her out of the institute where she was being held, and the two of them found passage aboard Serenity, a Firefly-class transport ship run by captain Malcom (Mal) Reynolds (Fillion). As the movie begins, they have been successfully hiding with Reynolds and company for about eight months--since the beginning of the Firefly series, in fact.
But the Alliance, afraid of what information River might be carrying in her very confused, very disturbed mind, has finally launched a serious search for her. An operative (played with masterful coolness by Chjwetel Ejiofor) will stop at nothing to find her and return her to her captors before her secrets are divulged.
Serenity is certainly a worthy continuation of the Firefly saga. The number one complaint that people who never saw Firefly will have is that Serenity is kind of like the sequel to a movie they never saw. Though the movie does explain the back story adequately, there are certainly nuances and relationships in the film that only Firefly devotees will pick up on. As an (obviously) die hard fan of the show, my biggest complaint (at least the first time I saw it--I saw it twice in the opening weekend) was that the story is far more epic than any episode of the show. That feels wrong--having a grand, universe-shaking mission, is just out of character with the show. I understand that is something that the elusive "mass market" requires in a movie, so I'm willing to accept that. And, like I said, the second time around I was totally able to look beyond that and see the real heart of the show even in that over-the-top portion of the plot.
My other complaint, I suppose, was that many members of the cast were marginalized. Firefly almost always used all of the characters to some extent in each episode--at least enough so that you didn't feel that someone was wasting their time being on the set. (Notice I gave all of them credit at the top--this group of people is the show.) The movie focuses on Mal and River, while all of the other cast members take a serious back seat. Book (Glass) and Inara (Baccarin) are particularly under utilized.
I can't really voice my other character-related beefs without giving away the plot. And I don't do that.
But (as you can see from my rating) my complaints are pretty minor, really. Although it wasn't obvious in my first viewing, upon seeing the film again, I realized that the heart and soul of what made Firefly Firefly is very much present in Serenity. It was truly wonderful to see these people together again, and I hope that the film does well enough to warrant a sequel.
I'm asking everyone who reads this to give Firefly and Serenity a chance. I had my doubts, but I was won over by this wonderful show. I have shared my love of the show with lots of others, who have all become as devoted as I am. Take a chance on well written, well acted television--it's a rare commodity. Buy the DVDs of the TV show (you can get it at Amazon for just $34.99--shipping is free) and give it a watch. Then go and see the film. I guarantee you'll be hooked as well.
Bottom line: There's no place I can be since I found Serenity. A worthy follow-up to Firefly--the best sci-fi show you probably never watched.