01 Oct 2005, 12:32 pm
There's a saying that when it comes to science fiction, you can have good characters or good plot, but you cant have both. Serenity manages to give us a little of both. I have watched maybe 1/2 a TV episode out of 11 on which this movie was based off of and I had problems figuring out the characters, story and universe.
The great thing about this movie is that it knows when to take itself seriuosly and it knows when to back off and let you in on some laughs. Unlike Episode III, it isnt funny because it's unintentional (Vader raising his fist and screaming "NOOOOOO!"). There are a lot of very memorable scenes and characters. One scene that pops in my head is right at the beginning, involving and sword and 'involuntary suicide'... well I'm not going to say anymore on that, you just have to see it.
But most of all, this movie doesnt feel like your typical "science" fiction trash that Hollywood pumps out. Its isnt a simplified storys of aliens invading and humans fighting back, or some alien on a ship killing people at random. There's actually a pretty big backstory to this, and it uses the story to make a lot of references to today's society as a satire. The people in serenity themselves could be considered a charicterization (you have the tough but funny captain, the bullheaded weapons officer, the slightly off-kilter ship engineer, and wise-old-man, etc...) but their backgrounds are deep, and the interactions between the characters are handled so well that its no issue at all.
Needless to say, I had a lot of fun with Serenity. I am trying to get as many people to see this as possible because its a terrific film, and I have a feeling that if it succeeds we might start seeing more sci-fi films with as much depth and development as this. Go see Serenity, you wont regret it!
01 Oct 2005, 1:33 pm
