AltWeeklies Wire » Movies+TV » Reviews

Escapist Velocity

By J. Caleb Mozzocco
Columbus Alive | September 29, 2005
Freed from the confines of a small budget and a fickle audience’s tastes, Joss Whedon resurrects his cancelled 2002 TV series Firefly as a feature film, and it’s a perfect showcase for everything Whedon does best. Like his clever small screen horror dramedies Buffy and Angel, Serenity seems to soar by vaulting the exceptionally low bar of its genre; it may simply be better than average, but when the average is the likes of The Chronicles of Riddick and the new Star Wars movies, it seems like a masterpiece.

Set in a ramshackle, thrift store future, Serenity borrows the multi-culti progressive vibe of the Matrix and the lived-in Western aesthetic of popular anime (like Trigun, Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop). The film takes its name from a spaceship captained by Nathan Fillion (who, like the rest of the cast, reprises his TV role) and crewed by an assortment of easy-to-like rogues. Mercenary, quick with their fists and quicker with their lips, it’s like a whole ship full of Han Solos, without any stuffy Jedis or annoying robots cramping their style.

It’s the Serenity’s newest crewmembers that drive the film’s plot: living weapon Summer Glau and her brother Sean Maher, who springs her from a government lab. In addition to learning a bunch of kick-ass kung-fu there, she learned a dangerous secret, and to keep it a secret the government sics their Zen samurai enforcer Chiwetel Ejiofor on our heroes.

While the plot is fairly pedestrian (though there's a political critique regarding the dangers of wars waged for faith in there if you're willing to look for it), Serenity has two things sorely lacking from so much recent sci-fi: a sense of humor and real, honest-to-God characters.

Not only do Fillion and company crack smiles, they crack jokes, sharing the same smart-ass gene all Whedon characters have. Sure, they’re broadly sketched, but they’re distinct and easy to give a damn about, making the emotions in this space opera more potent and genuine than that of your average space soap opera.

Whedon may be best known for his cult-inspiring television shows, but here’s hoping he sticks to films for a while. The medium’s wider canvas better suits his imagination, and he certainly seems to know what he’s doing with it.
Tags: Joss Whedon, Serenity

Columbus Alive

Founded in 1983, Alive is the Capital City's oldest and only independent alternative and is known for providing a forum for the area's free thinkers. The paper's spirited and original perspective on music, arts and culture distinguish it from the...
More »
Contact for Reprint Rights
  • Market Served: Metropolitan Area
  • Address: 62 E. Broad St., Columbus, OH 43215
  • Phone: (614) 221-2449
www.columbusalive.com