Serenity - Joss Whedon

**Traditional Tom** · Posted On: 10/01/2005 8:09am

Originally Posted by beka

Anyhow, it was alright. It was entertaining, but I don't think I'll ever see it again. The dialogue is *too* good, which eventually started to wear on me, but I still thought many of the lines were clever and funny. I think casting an itty-bitty ballerina in the role of a super-fighting-chick-psychobot was maybe not the best decision. If you want a woman to walk around gracefully, then fine, choose a ballerina. If you want her to kick ass convincingly, choose someone I could believe in.

It gave me a chance to cuddle with my boyfriend, but it is already fading from my memory (and the movie let out not even an hour ago).

I'm not going to defend the movie, since I think it stands on its own merit. But a question I must ask beka - Did you enjoy "The Notebook"?

**Jaguar Wong** · Posted On: 10/01/2005 12:29pm

I just saw it last night as well. I'm a Firefly fanboy, though so I've been waiting for this movie. I loved the movie!! It does pick up sometime after the series, but it does something the series never really did. It explains the history of the 'verse (briefly). It doesn't show the war at all, like the series did, though.

If you've never seen the series before, I would imagine that the western-esque dialogue would sound a bit weird, but that's one of those things that you start loving after watching a few episodes of the series.

Obviously you don't have to see the series to enjoy the movie, since TT hasn't. But I would at least watch the pilot episode. It does a good job of setting the tone of the series, and defines the characters well. And if at all possible, watch the "Out of Gas" episode, so you can see how the actual "crew" got together. I figure after one sees the pilot episode, they'll be hooked by the time they pull the "Crazy Ivan" anyway.

I loved how they explained the origin of the Reavers (or zombies as TT calls them), that was a total shock. The fights were a great mix of hollywood MA scenes, and old west fisticuffs. The comedy mixes very well the the dramatic and exciting moments. And finally seeing River "unleashed" was very cool. That last fight against the waves of Reavers was better than almost any of the new Star Wars fight scenes (Maul, and the Obi Wan/Skywalker fights are the only exceptions).

This has also made my top 10 list as well. I'm wondering if this movie would have ever happened if the series wasn't cancelled. If that's the case, I'm still trying to decide if it was worth losing the series for this fantastic movie (trilogy if this one does well).

Spoiler:

**The_Mirth** · Posted On: 10/01/2005 12:43pm

Now that I'm rested and back from practice here's my thoughts on the movie, and these are the thoughts of judging it against my expectations of all movies and not just the basis of it being a 2 hour firefly episode.

1)First of all if you're a big Whedon fan you'll enjoy it.

2) I haven't seen all the firefly episodes but one of the things I liked about it was that whedon had taken on a world where mass x speed = force was followed. However in Serenity it doesn't, although the fight scenes were better than buffy.

3) I didn't feel zombies added to this film, although their addition to the plot was well done. I suppose its just that whedon's own genre that requires monsters.

4)The whedon dialogue was toned down for the more serious parts which is a good thing.

I think most people will be able enjoy this film but those who really appreciate it will be Whedon fans.

**beka** · Posted On: 10/01/2005 1:10pm

Originally Posted by Traditional Tom

I'm not going to defend the movie, since I think it stands on its own merit. But a question I must ask beka - Did you enjoy "The Notebook"?

I never saw "The Notebook". For someone with a film degree, I see surprisingly few movies. However, I did hear that Ryan Gosling was in that movie, and if Ryan Gosling is in something, how could I *not* enjoy it?

**Traditional Tom** · Posted On: 10/01/2005 1:50pm

I was just going to point out that there are few movies that the majority of guys and girls will agree upon that was "good". Many females I've talked to adored "The Notebook" (saw it for free, wasn't impressed). However the fact that you've (supposedly) a movie degree leads me to believe you were probably more critical during the movie then needed.

**Penguinofdeath** · Posted On: 10/01/2005 2:18pm

The movie was awesome. Only seen a few of the episodes and always liked them so i could not wait for the movie to finally come out....Think i am gonna have to buy the series.

"I swallowed a bug."

**PunkBoy** · Posted On: 10/01/2005 2:55pm

I'm really happy that its getting a lot of favorable comments. I've been looking forward to this movie for a while. Oh, and I read that the movie takes place 6 months after "Objects in Space" (Firefly's last episode) in case you wanted to know. :-)

**MaverickZ** · Posted On: 10/01/2005 4:22pm

Originally Posted by Jaguar Wong

I just saw it last night as well. I'm a Firefly fanboy, though so I've been waiting for this movie. I loved the movie!! It does pick up sometime after the series, but it does something the series never really did. It explains the history of the 'verse (briefly). It doesn't show the war at all, like the series did, though.

If you've never seen the series before, I would imagine that the western-esque dialogue would sound a bit weird, but that's one of those things that you start loving after watching a few episodes of the series.

Obviously you don't have to see the series to enjoy the movie, since TT hasn't. But I would at least watch the pilot episode. It does a good job of setting the tone of the series, and defines the characters well. And if at all possible, watch the "Out of Gas" episode, so you can see how the actual "crew" got together. I figure after one sees the pilot episode, they'll be hooked by the time they pull the "Crazy Ivan" anyway.

I loved how they explained the origin of the Reavers (or zombies as TT calls them), that was a total shock. The fights were a great mix of hollywood MA scenes, and old west fisticuffs. The comedy mixes very well the the dramatic and exciting moments. And finally seeing River "unleashed" was very cool. That last fight against the waves of Reavers was better than almost any of the new Star Wars fight scenes (Maul, and the Obi Wan/Skywalker fights are the only exceptions).

This has also made my top 10 list as well. I'm wondering if this movie would have ever happened if the series wasn't cancelled. If that's the case, I'm still trying to decide if it was worth losing the series for this fantastic movie (trilogy if this one does well).

Spoiler:

i realize that the final image of the fight between River and the Reavers, with River standing there with the bloody axe and knife, was total fan service but DAMN if that wasn't an awesome image.

**Stick** · Posted On: 10/01/2005 5:57pm

I am actually on my way to see it a second time this evening- it's my uncle's birthday, he wants to see it.

And I couldn't be happier about going to a theater to see a movie again ^_^

I must confess to being a total, unapologetic fan-boy; The ten people who went to see Serenity with me last night, most of them saw the series because of me.

This movie was pretty much perfect. It picked up about 6 months after the last episode of Firefly- things had changed, but not so much tat the fans were lost. This change allowed some exposition that simultaneously told the die-hard fans what had happened- without boring them- and laid everything out for people who got dragged to the movie by sad die-hards. Of the ten of us that saw it last night, only two hadn't seen the show before and neither required any explanaitions or were at all hindered in their enjoyment of the movie- BTW, neither of these two people are sci-fi geeks per'se so it's not like you need a phaser in your closet to enjoy this movie.

The fights between Mal and the Agent were just awesome, comedic, realistic (or as realistic as movie violence usually gets), and not without a surprise or two that got the attending bullshido members smiling. River was a little harder to swallow, but she was a high level ballerina and does as good a job as Zhang Zhi Yi did in Crouching Tiger, but without the flying. I had trouble swallowing the 5'8" (taller than me) dancer smacking people down bare handed, but when she gets the sword and axe going that whole "grace" ting works out and I let go my inhibitions and said "she is fucking those fuckers up!"

The plot got me, the explaination of certain thigns, the surprises, all of it was handeled really well. As the movie went on I was actually concerned that some of my favorite characters might not make it- as opposed to other movies where either a. I couldn't care less about the characters or b. everyone over the age of 5 knows that there's no way in hell the hero can possibly die.

Spoiler:

I really can't recommend this movie enough.

Here's hoping for the sequel or the ressurection of the tv series- though from all the talk so far it looks like movies is the way to go...... cause FOX fucking sucks.

**beka** · Posted On: 10/01/2005 7:03pm

Originally Posted by Traditional Tom

I was just going to point out that there are few movies that the majority of guys and girls will agree upon that was "good". Many females I've talked to adored "The Notebook" (saw it for free, wasn't impressed). However the fact that you've (supposedly) a movie degree leads me to believe you were probably more critical during the movie then needed.

Being educated in film history and theory (as well as making a few of my own) does change things. But only some things. For one, the difference between the movies that men like and women like are different once you're dealing with film scholars. We've all gone through the same filth, and experienced the same brilliance. You might see some inclinations this way and that along a gender line, but I will assert that it doesn't matter once you're educated on the topic of film. Uneducated male and female film watchers will flock to the same kind of films along gender lines because that is what is expected of them. That is how the films are made, and that is the direct intent of the filmmakers (not always, but far too often). Of course we will have different perspectives--females will most likely be more concerned with analyzing a film from a feminist perspective than a man would, simply because feminism is primarily a woman thing (even though more men should willingly call themselves feminists). There were more women than men in my pornography course, and the professor was a woman. The course was from a strict film theory perspective with no discussion of "does this demean women?" That kind of talk was discouraged from day one.

So being educated in the matter can allow a viewer to see the film seperate from their gut reactions that film producers can expect they were conditioned to have. However, that doesn't mean that we have to walk into every film we see with our brains turned on. A lot of people assume that when you make a film, you will see through the tricks used in other films. That somehow, the illusion will be destroyed for you. This is not true. I've worked in production for a long time, and I have never said "psh! you can tell the gaffer was doing xyz blah blah blah!" The same goes for film theory. You can watch a movie and enjoy it simply for its entertainment value. But a film that wants to make you think is going to make you think, especially if you're trained in how to do it.

We will always have our core values that we bring with us when he view something. Of course the images will inspire a reaction in us, based on what he hold dear to us. But this is not exclusive to those of us who have written volumes on film.