Monday, May 9, 2011

Serenity

Serenity (2005)
Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

The crew of the ship Serenity tries to evade an assassin sent to recapture one of their number who is telepathic.



First of all, let me say that I am/was an ardent fan of the Firefly TV series. It absolutely amazes and depresses me that such an unbelievably well-done series would be canceled in its first season. This fact says a great deal about the artistic tastes and foresight of those who run the networks.

With regard to Serenity, as a movie by itself, it is excellent in many respects. Its characters are rich and their interactions are filled with emotion and humor. The pacing is excellent and the graphics are first-rate. You never feel that you are watching a digitally enhanced film.

Nevertheless, I felt that the movie departs in several respects from the feel of the television series which I loved. First of all, in the movie, the main characters (especially Mal) are much darker and more vicious than they were on television series. For example, in one TV episode, Inara tells Mal that the Madam, Nandi, who ran a bordello, kept her "family" together with the strength of her heart and will, with the implication that Mal does the same for the crew of Serenity.

In the movie, however, Mal comes across as much more heartless and authoritarian. Until the very end of the movie, Mal never reaches out to his crew members, nor does he make much of an effort to communicate with them, or understand their individual situations. He is also much more cavalier in his treatment of innocent bystanders.

Additionally, although there is humor in the movie, there is much less than in the television series. Is this Hollywood's effort to show that the movie is a "serious" cinematic event? Whatever the reason may be, the movie makes a determined effort to show that this is not simply a light-hearted, swashbuckler, but is a dark and brooding dramatic endeavor. Insofar as it departs from the joyful spirit of the series, I feel that this is a mistake.

Rated: 8.5/10

Have you seen it? If so, what's your opinion?


41 comments:

  1. I've watched it. was a great movie. not the best of the world but i want to watch it again.
    following your great blog

    http://incredible-mo.blogspot.com/

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  2. I gonna to watch this soon, thanks for the review!

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  3. Watched that movie about a week ago. I already was a huge fan of the Firefly-series and i loved the movie. As you wrote, the movie differs in some parts from the series (coldhearted Mal wtf), but i overall felt it was a good continuation of the series.

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  4. I'm gonna have to check that out

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  5. 9/10.

    In fact i might watch the series instead of the movie now since i've seen the movie about 100 times by now.

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  6. Never seen this one actually, but an 8.5/10 sounds like it's worth the watch.

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  7. I haven't seen it, even heard of it.... But I em definitely going to look for it in my local DVD hut! :D

    Great review!

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  8. I saw it a few years ago, a great film :D good review as well! :)

    /Tresni

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  9. It was alright. I wasn't a big fan of Firefly so it wasn't a big deal to me.

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  10. Yeah I thought that Serenity was really good. 9/10

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  11. The movie tried to tie up the story too neatly. The show should have rang for at least another season before they killed it with the movie. Great blog, follow!

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  12. Gotta watch this sometime... and the series :/ So much to watch, so little time.

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  13. Actually I've never heard of this movie *embarrassed* I could watch it someday :)

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  14. Never saw it but I might some time

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  15. seen this and also firefly.. both are cool!

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  16. I'll have to check this one out never heard of it.

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  17. I've never seen it, but I have friends who tell me it's amazing. Think I'm going to need to check it out.

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  18. Have not seen it! Great review, now I might!

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  19. I share your pain over the cancellation of firefly...i thought the movie rocked! Just wish they did more

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  20. Serenity is a kick ass movie - seen it..Firefly in other hand, haven't yet..Gonna look for it!

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  21. Never seen it, Ill have to check it out!

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  22. Hrm, so it is like Firefly? I haven't seen any of those episodes either, although I keep hearing about it. Sigh, more things to add to my "to watch" list.

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  23. Seen it; amazing! I'm happy they brought FireFly back... and by they, I mean not Fox.

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  24. I haven't seen it but the trailer looks good :D

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  25. Haven't seen this in a few years. Didn't like it as much as the series but it was nice that the characters actually got an ending.

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  26. The ship transforms in the end and kills urrrbody. Seen it!

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  27. Havent seen this peace, will look further to it :)

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  28. 6/10 at best

    Didn't impress me

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  29. Awesome review, makes me wanna check it out ;D

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  30. I've never heard of this movie either, but you may have convinced me to go look for it and watch it

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  31. Awesome post man! keep up the good blogging!

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  32. This movie didn't have something that the show did..

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  33. I loved firefly, and its good that they got to kinda rap things up in a way they never did with the show.

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