In Which I Revise My Thoughts On Serenity
not all that long ago, i did a picspam listing some of my favorite things about firefly. not a single picture in that spam came from the movie serenity. that's because i always considered serenity a lucky epilogue to the series, but nothing really special. or rather, it was special, just not my brand of the stuff. if i had to rate firefly and serenity on a scale of 1 to 10, firefly would get an 11- and serenity maybe a 6.
funny how a single rewatch changes things, however. now i have a whole new list of things i love about the movie, and a few things that still get to me. and of course i had to explain this with pictures, because, well, i'm me.
first, the good.
"But you fog things up! You always have. You spin me about."
1. the movie ships mal/inara about as hard as i do. of course, most of that is in the deleted scenes (which i pretty much count as cannon), but a good deal of the shipping still made it into the movie.
i should really have a pic of zoe's funeral outfit here, too.
2. i always remember qualms i have with movie costuming (we'll get to that later), but i forgot how great river and kaylee's outfits are. inana and zoe don't end up so bad, either.
3. river's self-actualization. not only do we learn her secret, we watch her move past victimhood to take control. and she's not the only one- kaylee fights where she couldn't in the series, and inara gets that awesome bow and arrow.
um
yeah
just
4. the pretty. oh, the pretty. i'm limiting my pics here to people-not-camerawork, and only a few people at that.
...this is taking a lot of self-control.
5. the storytelling. again, i have some issues, but there are also a few things about the film's plot that i really, really like:
-you don't see the result of the signal going out. the crew focuses on the mission and then trusts their results will make a difference.
-virtually everyone questions mal's decision-making skills at some point in the film. no one's perfect, and we beging to wonder whether mal is the best possible leader (of course, i always answer yes!)
-the film's end mirrors its beginning. despite three major character deaths, the explanation of river's secret, character hook-ups and more, they're still the same people. it's also a lovely sentiment about a tv show that became a movie that's still humble about the whole thing.
"Eta Kooram Nah Smech!"
6. the dialogue, and summer glau's faces. now, witty dialogue was something i always loved about this movie- no matter how much i questioned its parallels to firefly, the dialogue was a consistent connection. but that doesn't mean i can't fall in love with it all over again. why?
-"Honestly. There could be tears."
-"Am I talking to Miranda now?"
-"I aim to misbehave."
-"Do you really think any of us are gonna get through this?" / "I might!"
(among other quotes)
and then a new favorite- kaylee's "Hell with this. I'm gonna live." for some reason i always thought she was saying that romance was all well and good, but she prized her life above listening to simon talk about his regrets, and it bugged me a bit despite the feminism in that interpretation. of course it's just the opposite; simon admitting his regrets give her reason to fight- which i'll admit i like a heck of a lot more.
"Get these bodies together...five or six of 'em, all laid out on the front of our ship. Put Book front and center, he's our friend and we should honor him. Kaylee, find that kid who's taking a dirt nap with baby Jesus, we need a hood ornament. Jayne! Try not to steal too much of their shit!"
7. the bloopers. not techincally part of the movie, but definitely worth a mention. thank god nathan fillion is such a ham. i think i love that man.
on a similar note, everyone's seen the extended firefly bloopers, right?
but there's still the bad.
damnit, joss!
1. i think this is everyone's least favorite thing about the movie, but it has to be said. joss whedon creates a character to kill off in the movie, and he still manages to knock off two of his principals. he does it in really annoying ways, too- book gets the cliche gasping "save the girl" speech, for example.***ETA***: apparently i remember this bit wrong, and there's no specific mention of river. but he still grabs mal and gives final advice, of course. i've come to terms with these and their place in the story, but that doesn't mean i have to like them.
"She's not just a psychic. Given the right trigger, this girl is a living weapon."
2. the storytelling. one of the biggest issues i have with serenity is the opening scene where simon supposedly learns that river is 1) psychic and 2) a weapon for the alliance. if this really happened, why does he spend so much time trying to figure out what the alliance was doing to river in firefly? it's a neat little piece of exposition for the movie-going crowd, but it doesn't fit with the tv cannon, and it irks me to no end.
another issue i have with the storytelling is less of an issue and more of a preference- mal decides to broadcast the miranda tape immediately after he sees it. this makes sense, but can you imagine how amazing it would be to see that arc being developed over a few weeks of television?
3. firefly:orange::serenity:blue. for better or worse the different coloring widens the divide between the movie and the tv show, and it makes the inside of the ship look very, very different. the tv show exudes warmth, comfort, and energy; the movie goes for a colder, alienating, and epic feel. watching the movie always makes me homesick for those good old orange days.
simon's worst (above) and best (below) outfits in the film.
4. as i mentioned above, the girls get some great outfits, but i never understand what the hell they dress simon in. i'm not head over heels for mal's new clothes, either, but simon's clothes (and his hair!) bug me more. i mean, look at that first picture. even he looks alarmed!
of course, as evidenced by that second picture, sometimes they got the costuming incredibly right.
5. my last, and most petty, issue is the girl who plays river in the flashbacks. she just really annoys me. what happened to the cutie they used in "safe?"
also, does anyone else find the way she disagrees with the alliance's policies as a child - "we're in their homes and in their heads" - a little too convenient? yes, she's incredibly smart and even subversive, but she grew up in an environment that praised the alliance, and i doubt she was even exposed the thoughts of a whole lot of people who disagreed with their actions. it's nice that as a child she has the same opinion of the alliance as an adult malcolm reynolds, but it doesn't seem particularly realistic.
on a scale of 1 to 10, i'd probably give this movie an 8 now, if not a 9.
do you guys agree with my issues? think i missed something good about it? i don't know if my views are widely accepted or really controversial, and either way i'd love to hear what you think!
funny how a single rewatch changes things, however. now i have a whole new list of things i love about the movie, and a few things that still get to me. and of course i had to explain this with pictures, because, well, i'm me.
first, the good.
"But you fog things up! You always have. You spin me about."
1. the movie ships mal/inara about as hard as i do. of course, most of that is in the deleted scenes (which i pretty much count as cannon), but a good deal of the shipping still made it into the movie.
i should really have a pic of zoe's funeral outfit here, too.
2. i always remember qualms i have with movie costuming (we'll get to that later), but i forgot how great river and kaylee's outfits are. inana and zoe don't end up so bad, either.
3. river's self-actualization. not only do we learn her secret, we watch her move past victimhood to take control. and she's not the only one- kaylee fights where she couldn't in the series, and inara gets that awesome bow and arrow.
um
yeah
just
4. the pretty. oh, the pretty. i'm limiting my pics here to people-not-camerawork, and only a few people at that.
...this is taking a lot of self-control.
5. the storytelling. again, i have some issues, but there are also a few things about the film's plot that i really, really like:
-you don't see the result of the signal going out. the crew focuses on the mission and then trusts their results will make a difference.
-virtually everyone questions mal's decision-making skills at some point in the film. no one's perfect, and we beging to wonder whether mal is the best possible leader (of course, i always answer yes!)
-the film's end mirrors its beginning. despite three major character deaths, the explanation of river's secret, character hook-ups and more, they're still the same people. it's also a lovely sentiment about a tv show that became a movie that's still humble about the whole thing.
"Eta Kooram Nah Smech!"
6. the dialogue, and summer glau's faces. now, witty dialogue was something i always loved about this movie- no matter how much i questioned its parallels to firefly, the dialogue was a consistent connection. but that doesn't mean i can't fall in love with it all over again. why?
-"Honestly. There could be tears."
-"Am I talking to Miranda now?"
-"I aim to misbehave."
-"Do you really think any of us are gonna get through this?" / "I might!"
(among other quotes)
and then a new favorite- kaylee's "Hell with this. I'm gonna live." for some reason i always thought she was saying that romance was all well and good, but she prized her life above listening to simon talk about his regrets, and it bugged me a bit despite the feminism in that interpretation. of course it's just the opposite; simon admitting his regrets give her reason to fight- which i'll admit i like a heck of a lot more.
"Get these bodies together...five or six of 'em, all laid out on the front of our ship. Put Book front and center, he's our friend and we should honor him. Kaylee, find that kid who's taking a dirt nap with baby Jesus, we need a hood ornament. Jayne! Try not to steal too much of their shit!"
7. the bloopers. not techincally part of the movie, but definitely worth a mention. thank god nathan fillion is such a ham. i think i love that man.
on a similar note, everyone's seen the extended firefly bloopers, right?
but there's still the bad.
damnit, joss!
1. i think this is everyone's least favorite thing about the movie, but it has to be said. joss whedon creates a character to kill off in the movie, and he still manages to knock off two of his principals. he does it in really annoying ways, too- book gets the cliche gasping "save the girl" speech, for example.***ETA***: apparently i remember this bit wrong, and there's no specific mention of river. but he still grabs mal and gives final advice, of course. i've come to terms with these and their place in the story, but that doesn't mean i have to like them.
"She's not just a psychic. Given the right trigger, this girl is a living weapon."
2. the storytelling. one of the biggest issues i have with serenity is the opening scene where simon supposedly learns that river is 1) psychic and 2) a weapon for the alliance. if this really happened, why does he spend so much time trying to figure out what the alliance was doing to river in firefly? it's a neat little piece of exposition for the movie-going crowd, but it doesn't fit with the tv cannon, and it irks me to no end.
another issue i have with the storytelling is less of an issue and more of a preference- mal decides to broadcast the miranda tape immediately after he sees it. this makes sense, but can you imagine how amazing it would be to see that arc being developed over a few weeks of television?
3. firefly:orange::serenity:blue. for better or worse the different coloring widens the divide between the movie and the tv show, and it makes the inside of the ship look very, very different. the tv show exudes warmth, comfort, and energy; the movie goes for a colder, alienating, and epic feel. watching the movie always makes me homesick for those good old orange days.
simon's worst (above) and best (below) outfits in the film.
4. as i mentioned above, the girls get some great outfits, but i never understand what the hell they dress simon in. i'm not head over heels for mal's new clothes, either, but simon's clothes (and his hair!) bug me more. i mean, look at that first picture. even he looks alarmed!
of course, as evidenced by that second picture, sometimes they got the costuming incredibly right.
5. my last, and most petty, issue is the girl who plays river in the flashbacks. she just really annoys me. what happened to the cutie they used in "safe?"
also, does anyone else find the way she disagrees with the alliance's policies as a child - "we're in their homes and in their heads" - a little too convenient? yes, she's incredibly smart and even subversive, but she grew up in an environment that praised the alliance, and i doubt she was even exposed the thoughts of a whole lot of people who disagreed with their actions. it's nice that as a child she has the same opinion of the alliance as an adult malcolm reynolds, but it doesn't seem particularly realistic.
on a scale of 1 to 10, i'd probably give this movie an 8 now, if not a 9.
do you guys agree with my issues? think i missed something good about it? i don't know if my views are widely accepted or really controversial, and either way i'd love to hear what you think!