Serenity
I finally went to see Serenity with selenak yesterday.
selenak, I just saw you already posted your thoughts. Decided to post mine before reading yours, so I don't get influenced too much by what you wrote.
One of my collegue, my best friend at work, also saw the movie yesterday. He hasn't seen Firefly yet, but nevertheless he loved Serenity. He loved all the characters and found them wonderfully complex. Also loved the plot and cinematography and the subtle message. Yes, Joss Whedon has a new fan. I promised to lend him Firefly - and already advertised Buffy and Angel to him. *g*
And my own impressions? Well, I totally agree with him. Serenity is a shiny movie indeed.
rayakina, I put this entry behind a cut as it has some big spoilers.
- The beginning of the movie is sheer brilliance. It feels like opening a Russian doll: Inside each doll you find another.
First we learn some background about the Alliance, then it turns out we're attending a propaganda history lesson held by members of the Alliance, then we realize the history lesson is part of River's memory which she relives while being experimented on, then we discover that all this is just a recording of Simon's rescue of River watched by an assassin. Amazing! I'm totally in awe.
In addition to this the beginning sequence is fast paced, the sections blend seemlessly together and it cleverly introduces River, Simon and the Operative.
- Other strengths of the movie: Strong characters and an interesting threedimensional villain. A wonderfully intricate plot. Stunning visuals. (I *love* how the scenes are shot.) Great humour. It also accomplishes the feat to both entertain people who know the show Firefly *and* to draw newcomers in.
- And yay, the movie has a message. And it's a message I like. And we don't get bashed over the head by its message, instead it's subtle and you can overlook it and just enjoy Serenity as a cool action movie.
One message I discovered is about belief (which doesn't have to equal faith in God). But every human being needs to believe in something. If you have no longer anything you believe, you'll start losing yourself.
We can see this when we look at Malcom Reynolds and the Operative:
In the beginning of the movie, Mal has lost his belief in anything. Like Zoe states: During the war, Mal would not have left a man behind. It seems to be that Mal's crisis was triggered by Inara leaving the crew. However, what Zoe says makes Mal stop and think. He feels guilty about what happened and over the course of the movie he begins to change. He doesn't leave Simon and River behind even when it's clear that they endanger the crew. By the end of the movie, Mal has come along way. Helped by Zoe and Book he has started to believe again: The cause he has discovered for himself is finding out at all cost what the Alliance tries to hide and to bring it to the light.
The Operative develops in the opposite direction. (He's Mal's shadow, his mirror image.) He has a clear idea of what he believes in when the movie starts. A bit later on he voices his creed out loud: He believes in creating the perfect world - and if he has to kill hundreds of innocents he will do it. He sees himself as a monster, but as a monster that's working for a good cause. He knows that he himself has no place in the perfect world he creates.
(In some ways, the Operative reminded me of Vader who may hate himself for some of the things he does, but does them anyway for the greater good, i.e. to bring peace and justice to the galaxy.)
Of course, by the end of the movie everything the Operative believed in has been shattered. However, with the destruction of his beliefs he's also free to find a new goal to pursue.
Another message the movie brings across is that it's not foolish to be merciful. Mal and his crew survive because he doesn't kill the Operative.
(This brings to mind Star Wars where Luke is ultimately successful because he spares his father's life and Lord of the Rings where Frodo being merciful to Gollum ultimately saves the world from Sauron.)
- The death scenes:
If there was still a TV series I would be heartbroken about Book's death, but in the movieverse it makes sense. But yes, I am sad. He brought so much warmth to the crew of Serenity.
Wash. I knew he would die as I had been spoiled beforehand, but when it happened it totally took me by surprise. It's just so sudden. Watching Zoe hanging on by a thread so painful to watch. You want to hug her, but you just know this would make her shatter. She needs to gather all her strength first, before she can cry and wail and shout.
- Character interaction:
Mal and River: A touching relationship. I don't see them as a romantic pair, but like father and daughter.
(Their relationship reminds me a tiny bit of Angel and Cordelia.)
Simon and River: There's such a strong bond of love between them. Simon would do everything for River - I think he would even betray his closest friends in order to protect her. If he has to choose between someone else and River, I think River would win in his heart. River returns his love and ultimately, she goes out to fight the Reavers in order to protect *him*.
(Their relationship is reminiscent of Spike and Drusilla.)
Simon and Kaylee: Cute. Way cool that the word love is not mentioned in their relationship. What Kaylee wants for now is a good shag so she can cut down on her excessive battery use. ;-)
- Also: Joss Whedon loves his female fans. We get to see chiselled aps twice. :-)
selenak, I just saw you already posted your thoughts. Decided to post mine before reading yours, so I don't get influenced too much by what you wrote.
One of my collegue, my best friend at work, also saw the movie yesterday. He hasn't seen Firefly yet, but nevertheless he loved Serenity. He loved all the characters and found them wonderfully complex. Also loved the plot and cinematography and the subtle message. Yes, Joss Whedon has a new fan. I promised to lend him Firefly - and already advertised Buffy and Angel to him. *g*
And my own impressions? Well, I totally agree with him. Serenity is a shiny movie indeed.
rayakina, I put this entry behind a cut as it has some big spoilers.
- The beginning of the movie is sheer brilliance. It feels like opening a Russian doll: Inside each doll you find another.
First we learn some background about the Alliance, then it turns out we're attending a propaganda history lesson held by members of the Alliance, then we realize the history lesson is part of River's memory which she relives while being experimented on, then we discover that all this is just a recording of Simon's rescue of River watched by an assassin. Amazing! I'm totally in awe.
In addition to this the beginning sequence is fast paced, the sections blend seemlessly together and it cleverly introduces River, Simon and the Operative.
- Other strengths of the movie: Strong characters and an interesting threedimensional villain. A wonderfully intricate plot. Stunning visuals. (I *love* how the scenes are shot.) Great humour. It also accomplishes the feat to both entertain people who know the show Firefly *and* to draw newcomers in.
- And yay, the movie has a message. And it's a message I like. And we don't get bashed over the head by its message, instead it's subtle and you can overlook it and just enjoy Serenity as a cool action movie.
One message I discovered is about belief (which doesn't have to equal faith in God). But every human being needs to believe in something. If you have no longer anything you believe, you'll start losing yourself.
We can see this when we look at Malcom Reynolds and the Operative:
In the beginning of the movie, Mal has lost his belief in anything. Like Zoe states: During the war, Mal would not have left a man behind. It seems to be that Mal's crisis was triggered by Inara leaving the crew. However, what Zoe says makes Mal stop and think. He feels guilty about what happened and over the course of the movie he begins to change. He doesn't leave Simon and River behind even when it's clear that they endanger the crew. By the end of the movie, Mal has come along way. Helped by Zoe and Book he has started to believe again: The cause he has discovered for himself is finding out at all cost what the Alliance tries to hide and to bring it to the light.
The Operative develops in the opposite direction. (He's Mal's shadow, his mirror image.) He has a clear idea of what he believes in when the movie starts. A bit later on he voices his creed out loud: He believes in creating the perfect world - and if he has to kill hundreds of innocents he will do it. He sees himself as a monster, but as a monster that's working for a good cause. He knows that he himself has no place in the perfect world he creates.
(In some ways, the Operative reminded me of Vader who may hate himself for some of the things he does, but does them anyway for the greater good, i.e. to bring peace and justice to the galaxy.)
Of course, by the end of the movie everything the Operative believed in has been shattered. However, with the destruction of his beliefs he's also free to find a new goal to pursue.
Another message the movie brings across is that it's not foolish to be merciful. Mal and his crew survive because he doesn't kill the Operative.
(This brings to mind Star Wars where Luke is ultimately successful because he spares his father's life and Lord of the Rings where Frodo being merciful to Gollum ultimately saves the world from Sauron.)
- The death scenes:
If there was still a TV series I would be heartbroken about Book's death, but in the movieverse it makes sense. But yes, I am sad. He brought so much warmth to the crew of Serenity.
Wash. I knew he would die as I had been spoiled beforehand, but when it happened it totally took me by surprise. It's just so sudden. Watching Zoe hanging on by a thread so painful to watch. You want to hug her, but you just know this would make her shatter. She needs to gather all her strength first, before she can cry and wail and shout.
- Character interaction:
Mal and River: A touching relationship. I don't see them as a romantic pair, but like father and daughter.
(Their relationship reminds me a tiny bit of Angel and Cordelia.)
Simon and River: There's such a strong bond of love between them. Simon would do everything for River - I think he would even betray his closest friends in order to protect her. If he has to choose between someone else and River, I think River would win in his heart. River returns his love and ultimately, she goes out to fight the Reavers in order to protect *him*.
(Their relationship is reminiscent of Spike and Drusilla.)
Simon and Kaylee: Cute. Way cool that the word love is not mentioned in their relationship. What Kaylee wants for now is a good shag so she can cut down on her excessive battery use. ;-)
- Also: Joss Whedon loves his female fans. We get to see chiselled aps twice. :-)