Going into the theater to watch the sneak preview of Serenity, I was apprehensive for several reasons. I was afraid of Universal/United International Pictures raping Joss Whedon into agreeing to “Hollywoodize” it for mass consumption. Or that it would only be appreciated by fans of the TV series. Or that it would suck.
It has now been 2 days since I saw the movie and I am still in shock at how wrong I’ve been to doubt Joss. Not only was the movie successful in easing all apprehensions I previously had, but it has me seriously considering getting a tattoo saying “I am Joss’s bitch.” On my forehead. Which would probably improve my face.
In my mind, the challenge that faced Joss Whedon was to successfully introduce all the key players while not driving longtime fans to boredom. A less apt storyteller would probably resort to flashbacks from the TV series, or trip over himself by doing it as fast as possible and get on with the story.
Whedon’s solution was simple as it was elegant: introduce the characters while moving the story forward. Ignoring the convention of doing all introductions during the first 15 minutes of the movie, he decided to introduce the most important ones at the start, and move on to the others as the story requires them.
Watch out for the first scene on the ship Serenity where Whedon’s camera flies in one fluid motion from one crew member to another; showing who each character is, and how they interact with the others. This Brian de Palma-esque technique is rarely seen in movies, and is even more rarely accomplished with such grace and efficiency.
With only an hour and a half to work with, it was refreshing how Whedon took his time setting up the foundation of the story. It was as if he was making sure that old and new audiences alike felt comfortable with the characters first before plunging them headfirst in all kinds of desperate situations imaginable. And there were a lot. Still, with Whedon’s flair for storytelling, at no point was his hold over the audience slackened.
Despite being portrayed by the trailers as a futuristic story of spaceships and alien planets; at the very core of Firefly, and consequently Serenity, lies a very human story with universal themes. Whedon’s stand to stick by the essence of the series plays a big part in the movie’s critical (and hopefully commercial) success. Each and every character is a three dimensional human being with his or her own identity and motivations that anybody can relate to while side stepping those potholes more commonly known as stereotypes or clichés.
Anybody walking into the movie without prior knowledge of Whedon or Firefly would probably walk away happy. I’d bet my third testicle on it. To prove that, I brought along such a friend to the screening, and 5 minutes into the movie, he was already caring about the characters as much as I have.
This is not to say that the movie is just a character driven story that happens to be based in space. As expected, Joss turned up the heat for the big screen translation of his series. People going in expecting a fun ride will surely get it. And you get to care about what happens to the characters as a bonus. Also, River gets to kick major ass! WOOT!
For fans of the series: prepare yourselves for pain. Lots of it.
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I’ll stop here right now because this is as far as I can go without revealing too much.
Word has it that the movie will get its regular run on Feb 16 next year, but us browncoats who’ve already seen it are still keeping our fingers crossed that the powers that be would decide to push up the screening a few months or so.
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Check out Anansi Girl’s spoilerific review here: Damn you, Joss
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