Issue 3.1: Movie: Serenity (2005)

This week, we'll do this differently. I'm going to do a different category each day and a roundup article once a week. I am also including actual videos whenever possible.

Serenity (2005)

US Trailer

European Trailer

There are those who swear by the series Firefly, but I must be honest. I only managed to watch a couple of episodes and was confused. Characters would show up to whom I had not yet been introduced. Later, I found out that the show was being broadcast out of order and at different times each week. It was no wonder I couldn't keep up. But I like Joss Whedon's work (see: Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and was very happy to see that that a movie was being made.

I suppose some background is required: "Firefly" is the class of vessel flown by Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, a former revolutionary soldier who was on the losing side of a civil war which ended with the Battle of Serenity. The (still) oppressive government is made up of remnants of American and Chinese interests responsible for transplanting humanity to an expansive star system with many terraformed and livable, if somewhat underdeveloped planets, giving the show a frontiersman "Space Western" feel. Reynolds and his mercenary crew eke out a living on the wrong side of the law on the ship named after that fateful battle. The series begins when two fugitives join the crew -- a doctor and his mentally unstable and slightly psychic sister. The movie finally reveals the reasons young River Tam is of such high interest to the government. I won't give it away here, but suffice it to say that it would have been fun to find out little by little in the series rather than all at once in the movie.

Not since Star Trek has a cancelled television series been made into a movie and look how that turned out (wink wink). Firefly had potential, and the fact that there is a movie meant good things. But just in case Serenity was the last hurrah for the show, I suppose it was smart of Whedon to tie up loose ends in the movie.

If I had the tech savvy, I'd show you the first fifteen minutes of the movie as it nicely introduces the plot as well as how bad-assed The Operative (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor who also played in Four Brothers, Dirty Pretty Things, and 2012 in VERY different roles)) is.