Serenity (2005, Joss Whedon)

Between the years of 2002 and 2003, Joss Whedon’s short lived, sci-fi western themed programme, Firefly aired on Fox for one season. At the time, many critics complained that the mix between science fiction and Westerns were simply too jarring.  Luckily, in the brief time it was on television, and the DVD release which proceeded its airing, the show amassed a vast cult following; which was apparently enough to convince Universal Studios to give Joss Whedon $40 million to make a spin-off movie sequel to the show. 

Set in the year 2517, the government, named “The Alliance” have long since won the war against “The Independent Faction” (nicknamed “Browncoats”, based on their uniforms). Now, The Alliance has spread out across the universe, taking over planets and galaxies as they go. A young, psychic girl named River Tam (Summer Glau) has been kidnapped by Alliance scientists, who perform cruel experiments on her and try to manipulate her psychic abilities for their own gains. Rescued by her older brother, Simon (Sean Maher), the two find refuge aboard the Firefly-class transport ship, Serenity, captained by Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), a former Browncoat who has a grudge against The Alliance. Once an Alliance agent, known only as “The Operative” (Chiwetel Ejiofor) finds out she is missing, he makes it his mission to retrieve her by any means necessary. 

Given a synopsis like that, many of those reading who are not aware of Firefly and Serenity will probably not have a clue what I am talking about, and that is the first problem with the movie. It is not at all friendly to newcomers, which means certain audience members spending the first half-an-hour or so catching up. For the sake of clarification, “The Alliance” and “The Browncoats” are based loosely on The Union and The Confederates from the American Civil War (there is just one of its connections to Westerns). There are also “Reavers”, who are one of the film’s antagonists. They were once men who became rage filled zombie like creatures who cross the universe, attacking in hordes, raping and murdering all they see. Fans of the show will be well aware of the Reavers, and know the threat they pose, but newcomers will struggle to catch up. To be fair, Whedon does give a few characters chunks of exposition, where they explain very clearly to the audience just what is going on and why. There is also the problem that the Reavers are fairly unimpressive in terms of how they look, and they never feel like a threat.

Thankfully, once the uninitiated do figure out just what is going on, there is a lot of fun to be had. One has to remember that, while $40 million is a high budget, it is fairly modest for a science-fiction space opera. This modest budget allows the film to rely on character and hand-to-hand fighting, instead of computer generated spectacle. There is an intimacy, not just between the cast, who have fantastic personal chemistry, but to the audience. It realises that this may be the last chance that diehard fans get to see their favourite characters, so it delivers what it promises by giving each character a lot of cool things to do. It respects its audience enough to deliver a carefully crafted, witty, fun space-yarn. Given the fact that this came out in the same year as the bloated, overly serious Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, this, in comparison is brimming with life and energy.

As you may expect from a cast who have already become friends on the set of Firefly, the lead performers have excellent chemistry, and deliver fine, individual performances to boot. Nathan Fillion as Mal Reynolds is extremely charming, coming across as a mix between Han Solo in the Star Wars franchise and Clint Eastwood in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Had the film been a bigger hit, I imagine he may have become a bigger star than he is, but it seems being a cult performer has been sufficient for him in the years since Serenity has been released.

Some people have argued that every actor is simply doing their best Han Solo impression, which I find unfair. Each actor has a distinct personality, and is played with charm and wit. Gina Torres is suitably dry as second in command, Zoe, and has several emotional moments towards the end. Alan Tudyk is witty as the ship’s pilot, Wash, and will break the hearts of diehard Firefly fans, which I shall not spoil. Adam Baldwin plays a decent tough guy as the ship’s muscle, Jayne, and some of the best lines are his. Jewel Staite is tomboyish as the ship’s mechanic, Kaylee, and manages to balance wide-eyed innocence and tough girl moments. Sean Maher is good as the square-jawed, overly serious, ship medic, Simon Tam. Also, his dedication to his sister, River Tam is convincing. Lastly, Summer Glau as River is excellent, and despite her small frame, she is very convincing in the action scenes. Joss Whedon should be commended for paving the way for writing women as tough, and savvy, as so few filmmakers do, especially in science-fiction cinema. I believe the Han Solo comparisons comes from the fact that each character is a rogue, and the ship’s crew make their living by stealing anything that is not nailed down, but other than that, the comparison is off base.

One of the standout performers is franchise newcomer, Chiwetel Ejiofor as the villain, The Operative. He is cold and is willing murder anyone who gets in his way, making him an impressive villain. Ejiofor is a chameleon like performer who adapts to any situation presented before him. His breakout was in Stephen Frear’s Dirty Pretty Things (2002) and since then he has worked with such directors as Spike Lee, David Mamet and Woody Allen, to name a few. He may be best known by audiences in the UK for his stage work, specifically his Laurence Olivier Award winning performance in Othello in 2008. He shares some great scenes with Fillion, specifically a fight scene towards the end of the film, which is an excellent example of how to perform a decent fight scene.

As you may imagine, since Serenity was based on a flop TV-show, the film flopped. Although,  like the TV-show, the film has found a dedicated audience on DVD, making it a cult hit. I think what makes Serenity so successful, is Joss Whedon. His writing is pin sharp, especially when mixing Western sounding dialogue with futuristic settings, and he has a keen eye for detail as a director. He gave the audience the film they wanted to see since the show was cancelled, and no one can fault him for delivering to them and them only. 

8/10