Serenity

Serenity

If there was ever a science fiction TV franchise that many considered a worthy rival / successor to Star Trek (while being the polar opposite), it would certainly have to be Firefly, a short lived show that nonetheless gathered a rabid fan following during its brief run, a fact that only reinforces the concept that TV ratings are a somewhat fixed enterprise designed to tell us exactly what “hot” TV show we all should be watching while the top executives pull the plug on stuff which they themselves don’t care for. But money always talks in the end and the revenue garnered from huge sales of the show on DVD along with merchandise compelled them to wrangle Joss Whedon for a feature film that continued directly from where the cancelled show had left off from. Whedon’s strategy for creating the show was unique starting off with casting (at the time) a mostly unknown group of actors (with the glaring exception of Adam Baldwin, already a legend for a number of years from having played Animal Mother in Full Metal Jacket along with many other high profile roles on his resume) and writing almost everything related to the concept as being a stark contrast to Roddenberry’s Trek (keeping in mind that the drug addled Roddenberry had been removed from having had all creative control after the original Trek series’ first season, a decision which probably saved the franchise even as he was treated as if he deserved credit for many great Trek stories and movies for which he had little to no direct involvement in). Whereas Trek’s governing body of The Federation Of Planets was portrayed in a benevolent light which encouraged exploration for any man to go where no man has gone before, Firefly’s similar equivalent in The Alliance Of Planets was a hostile, conquering and controlling organization that would be willing to wipe out and kill any alien or human settlements that refused to play by their rules and join the winning team. Likewise, the crew of the ship Serenity were not components of a fine naval vessel, but rather a ragtag group of space pirates operating completely outside of the confines of any overriding command center or network, fending for themselves by carrying out mercenary jobs (usually heists) for equally unsavory types in the galactic underworld (Whedon had toyed with this space pirate idea once before with his previous script for Alien: Resurrection and now seemed to be realizing it in full), in some ways really evoking comparisons with science fiction’s most famous space pirate in Han Solo. Most interesting of all though, while the original Trek crew was known for and admittedly very popular for their unwavering solidarity with each other (something that was not the case with the actors themselves), the Serenity crew was portrayed as squabbling amongst themselves quite often, even showing crew members disagreeing or having fistfights with their captain (a sacrilege that Kirk was never subjected to) and sometimes having one or more of them fall under suspicion for possible self serving sabotage or betrayal of the others. However, the most appealing thing would have to be the dark sense of humor that was prevalent throughout with the dialogue having its own unique, weird loopy vibe and the even darker themes that are shown as we have a rogue alien race called Reavers that are known for their mindless cannibalism along with The Alliance’s penchant for committing genocide on those civilizations that don’t conform to join up with them after having already won a civil war over the “independent” states, all of which were themes that Whedon would integrate into the 2005 release of this “sequel” to the TV show, one for which all the actors were eager to participate in, starting with Nathan Fillion as the ship’s captain, Mal Reynolds, in many ways a bumbling rogue who knows all too well that he’s surrounded by renegades and is not afraid to threaten martial law in order to enforce his command of the ship. More importantly, Reynolds had fought on the losing side of the civil war and in many ways still seems to be fighting it as he is ready, willing and able to do whatever it takes to stick it to The Alliance. Also along is Gina Torres as Zoe, a beautiful, resourceful and loyal black woman who had served alongside Reynolds in the war and had also married the ship’s pilot, Alan Tudyk’s Wash, known for his wry sense of humor and also the one most responsible for saving all of their asses more times than any of the others due to his crackerjack piloting skills. Then there is Jewel Staite’s Kaylee, the (very cute) ship’s mechanic who is usually left behind to watch the Batmobile while the others venture out into dangerous terrain. Of course, we also have Baldwin’s Jayne, a VERY big talker who is capable of handling himself in tight situations but who also serves in the role of being the slapstick bumbling ass who rarely gets to play the hero. Rounding it out is Sean Maher as the ship’s doctor, Simon Tam, a guy who surprisingly most often has the big blow out arguments with the captain and who gave up a respectable life as a doctor in order to protect his sister (arguably the real star of the movie). As River Tam, Summer Glau brings both sex appeal and intimidation to the table as a powerful teenage psychic who has also been programmed as a human killing machine who can fight her way out of any situation (only her brother can calm her down before she does too much damage) and as far as the “female super fighter” cliché goes, is actually one of the best to ever fill this role, mostly because whenever the character suffers (usually from traumatic psychic visions), we actually feel for her and find it easier to root for her when she goes into fighting mode and kicks bad guys’ asses (or knocks out Baldwin for trying to throw her off the ship). The film opens with her brother and the rest of the crew helping her escape from the government detention center that she was being held at, only for them to have a mysterious Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) coming after them to retrieve (or terminate) her. The Operative is an unusual sort (and possibly the only instance of Whedon stretching himself a little too far as a writer in order to make this character seem “different” than similar characters of this type in movies before this), soft spoken and constantly being empathetic towards Mal and others in order to convince his targets that he “understands” them and their motives before killing them (when seen taking out earlier targets he even gently tells them that they’re “dying honorably” as if that will make them feel better about their fate). He also makes no bones about being an evil monster who himself has no place in the peaceful, civilized world which he purports to be fighting for and judging from his fighting skills, seems to have the same level of training that the teenage girl River has, but fortunately Mal proves to be a resourceful opponent in his own right, especially when properly motivated after The Operative kills several of his friends and business associates. The idea that River is basically a dangerous ticking timebomb aboard the ship (with the doctor brother being protective of her at all costs) and that the crew might be better off without her and get the government off their backs in the process is countermanded by Mal’s refusal to see her as being anything other than human as the rest of them are (and with her advanced psychic powers, an asset in dangerous situations) and certainly the strongest part of Fillion’s performance is in his captain taking a stand that even his own crew disagrees with as the ultimate goal of broadcasting something to the known universe through pirate / hacker techniques that will change people’s minds about their supposedly enlightened government becomes his cause worth dying for. All throughout the sometimes morbid sense of humor that permeates much of the material (much of it with Baldwin’s Jayne and his obviously shifty sense of loyalty) and the darkly unsettling events of the story which include discovering a whole planet full of dead people and the deaths of three major characters (including a crew member) sets this far apart from much of the softer, lighter offerings that science fiction is known for and Whedon’s insistence (to date) that no sequel or further extension of the franchise has been planned is truly a real shame since if this is not considered a proper rival to The Trek Franchise (which admittedly had a huge head start), then it is at least an alternative which may be even more realistic with its characters than most of this genre…

8/10

Click here to watch or buy this item at Amazon!