Tue, December 20, 2005

I think it would be impossible to review Serenity without reviewing Firefly, the short-lived TV show that came before. Box office returns suggest it's not all that easy to view Serenity without viewing Firefly, either. I can't say, since I have seen Firefly and I can't un-see it. (Thankfully.) Just like the X-Files movie, it's a challenge when you're continuing a story line that's been developed over hours of previous material – but I think Serenity does a commendable job of making its story accessible to those who have or haven't watched the TV show. (The makers of Starsky & Hutch didn't have such problems.)

Apparently, it is also very difficult to review Serenity without making some sort of pun between its title and Frank Costanza's wail, "Serenity now!" Given time, I could wallpaper my entire kitchen with newspaper and magazine clippings like "Serenity... Now?" and "Serenity, Wow!" without repeating any.

Like Firefly, Serenity tells the story of Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), the captain of a spaceship named Serenity. Formerly a war hero (but not for the winning side), Reynolds now serves as what can best be described as a courier – though his clients are not always on the up and up. He's not a bad guy, but he doesn't have the leisure to be very selective about his associates. His first mate is Zoe (Gina Torres, late of Alias), a loyal companion from his military days. Her husband Wash (Alan Tudyk) pilots the ship, and the crew is filled out by machinist Kaylee (Jewel Staite) and gun for hire Jayne (Adam Baldwin). They're joined by the beautiful Inara (Morena Baccarin), who leases space on the ship in her capacity as a companion, which is another word for courtesan, which is a pretty word for prostitute. Also on board are passengers Shepherd Book (Ron Glass), a preacher, and Simon and River (Sean Maher and Summer Glau), a doctor and his young sister. It's this last passenger who creates a bit of trouble in Serenity.

The strength of Firefly is that it knows where to begin the story. Later episodes detail some of Mal Reynolds's war experience and show how the crew of Serenity came together, but the story begins right in the middle of things, and the first episode ends with the three passengers coming aboard. This is a key decision for a movie or TV show. Just as The Truman Show wasn't about a guy who's life is faked for TV, it's about a guy who's life is faked for TV once he starts to figure it out, Firefly isn't about this motley space crew, it's about the crew once they encounter River. She turns out to be more than just a girl. She and her brother are on the run since he boosted her out of a government facility where they had invested a lot of time and technology in some mind control experiments. The escape leaves them fugitives and the experiments leave her more than a little cracked. She has violent episodes, she knows things she shouldn't know. Her brother Simon is trying to determine exactly what's wrong with her and keep her safe, while Mal and his crew are just trying to keep earning a living, but must constantly adapt their strategies to protect River from the government – or protect themselves from her.

As you'd expect, Serenity broadens the scope of the story significantly – in terms of visual effects, locations, etc. But the emotional center of the story retains its intimacy, focusing on the small and tightly knit crew. Where writer/director Joss Whedon truly excels is making his characters instantly relatable. Serenity has a small crew, but it's still a pretty sizable ensemble cast. Whedon throws the audience into the middle of their camaraderie – we feel among them, one of them almost. No time is wasted explaining the characters to the audience; as they interact with each other, they reveal who they are and how they fit together. Add to that the shifting power dynamic (Mal and Zoe are close, but the belligerent Jayne wants his say, Wash wishes his wife were as loyal to him as she is to her captain, and Inara confuses the entire issue with the spark of romance), and you have a core group from which any story becomes more interesting.

While the key building blocks of Serenity will be familiar to science fiction viewers (oppressive governments, epic spaceship battles), the film always maintains its maverick edge. I'm sure the new Battlestar Galactica TV show is great, but I couldn't get through five minutes before being turned off by the heavy sci-fi dialogue. Serenity never has that, and it makes it feel more like an action adventure with sci-fi elements than a straight-up sci-fi movie. It has a definite consistency and continuity in its approach. Whedon has described it as sci-fi with western influences, something more apparent in the TV show than the film. As a result, Firefly has a twangy, western-inspired theme song, which I wouldn't like that much on its own, but within the show it feels right at home. I think this hints at the key to the cult following Firefly enjoyed during its short run: it was produced with passion and devotion, and it remained consistent. Every part of it was put there by people who knew the show well and cared about it enough to make sure that each piece fit together and anything nonessential was left out. You may not reach everyone with a show like that, but those you reach will easily become obsessed.

Certainly, this precision suffers a little in the shift to the big screen, with the time constraints and the necessary re-introduction of characters. But Serenity is impressive because it rolls with those punches, and barely misses a step. The characters and central conflict are up and running in no time, and then it's just a wild ride towards the finish, where a nicely planned discovery answers some questions about River's past and gives the crew a new mission to fight for. And the entire time is spent in the company of the most enjoyable ensemble in recent memory. What more can you ask for?

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