Okay so before I go any further I would like to make one point clear. I loved Serenity. I will recommend it to people to see. I hope and pray they will make more movies. The only reason I am critical of it at all is in part because I love it and in large part because I have written a critique book on the series and as such have seen every episode at least 10 times each and have carefully dissected them with love and passion to reveal the good as well as the bad, IMHO. Unlike most people who have seen this movie, I didn't go blindly ga-ga over it and think it was wonderful and amazing and all that stuff. I did love it, no arguments about that, but I am thoroughly biased toward the show and hence would naturally love the movie. But I was surprised, and disappointed, by how many things really didn't work for me, broke continuity with the series, and in general just weren't as good as I had thought they were going to be. So here I will list my gripes, my praise, and my questions. I'll be curious to see what y'all think. This posting is going to be all about the movie. I'll probably do a separate posting about the whole Jewel Staite/Kaylee experience. ;)



TV vs. Movie: The first thing that really struck me was how some of the movie looked more like a TV show than a "movie" at times. This was mostly really apparent to me at the beginning, especially the scenes in the Alliance laboratory. Maybe it was because they were pared down and minimal, but things looked strangely over-simplified and "cheap", like a TV set rather than a movie set. I know that the budget for this film was small, which might also have been part of the reason for its bare bones look. It was definitely most noticeable at the start. Serenity herself is such a wonderfully complex ship that once we were on board that feeling went away completely and for the most part stayed away. And of course all the space shots and battles were just fucking amazing.

The Wrong Rescue: I'm really annoyed with the whole opening rescue scene. For one, it was confusing. As a viewer of the show I thought that somehow in the six months from when the series ended that River had been captured and that Simon was, with the help of the Serenity crew, a part of the rescue mission. But that clearly can't be the case cause there is NO way that he could have succeeded at that point, being a known identity with regards to River. And as the scene progresses it becomes clear that this is back in the beginning, when she is still part of the "Academy" and being experimented on. I only had this mistaken impression for a few minutes but when realization dawned it was both distracting and vexing. In talking to other fans who saw the movie I learned that I was not the only one who made that mistake. In fact one person made that mistake and didn't even realize that he was wrong.

This breaks with the series cannon pretty dramatically. Simon told everyone that he paid some people to smuggle River out. There is never any indication that he was involved directly in the rescue operation, and certainly not THAT directly. It also doesn't make sense because he is told and knows about what they are doing to her in that scene, which he CLEARLY does not know in the series. I argued for awhile that perhaps he lied to Mal and the others, pretending that he didn't know stuff when he really did, but that doesn't cut it. For one, he's never been good at deception and fooling people and lying. Doesn't come to him naturally. But the more compelling proof is found in the episode Ariel. When Simon runs the tests on River to figure out what was done to her he is clearly shocked and surprised at what he discovers.

I understand, however, why Joss did this. He needed to quickly and powerfully set up for a non-series audience what the relationship between River and Simon was, what he had done for her, how much he loves her, and what had been done to her by the Alliance. The part in which it played nice with the series is that it gives some potential background for his ability to figure out the job in Ariel, but I like it better when that stands more as a turning point for him as a character - taking his smarts and using them in a new way. So this whole rescue thing really bugged me as a series-member of the audience.

The Villian: I was also really really really annoyed with the shift in villians. Why the new guy, who we never saw on Firefly? And considering just how "good" he's supposed to be it took him an awfully long time to catch up to them, which rather negates his skills as a hunter/agent to those of us who saw the series. (Edit 9/05: It turns out, as shown in the comic books, that he was not looking for River ever since she escaped, so this is a moot point now - but not obvious unless you have in fact read the comic books) In fact, when looking at the movie, it really confuses the whole issue. The movie makes it feel like he manages to catch up with Serenity and put his plan into action in a relatively short period of time. Certainly much shorter than the time span of the series. I also just didn't find him to be all that creepy. They went for the cool calm, almost pleasant type of villain, hoping to go for the ruthless but not vicious vibe, but I never felt particularly threatened or intimidated by him. He kinda bored me in retrospect.

So my question is this - why didn't they just keep the "hands of blue" guys? (Edit 9/05 - absence of the Blue Boys is explained in the comic)The only reason I can guess for this is that they needed a villian whose mind could be changed. A villian who could do terrible things in the name of his beliefs, but who was still human and whose beliefs could be changed. I do like the idea of that; that people can change when faced with the truth. If that was the reason, I can respect that even though I would have prefered the "hands of blue" guys. But Joss could have had lots and lots of other ways by which the crew of the Serenity didn't get killed by the soldiers and managed to repair their ship. It didn't have to be because the "villian" had a change of heart and called off the army and gave them support. I suspect, however, that Joss was thinking the former, rather than providing a convenient excuse for not getting everyone killed.

But I still think the "hands of blue" boys were far more creepy and had far more unpleasant and disturbing ways of eliminating people. They were also far more inexplicable and mysterious. You didn't really know who they worked for, what they were for, what they thought personally, or why the heck they had those blue gloves on. Their cards were not on the table and I think they were all the more effective and perturbing for that. Which leads me to my next question ...

Alliance vs. River: Who wants River and why? It's possible, and I'm hoping that this is the case in Joss' head, that there are multiple aspects of the government that want to get their hands on River. If this is the case, it could explain why the "hands of blue" boys are not in the movie. One of those CIA versus FBI versus Internal Security type deals where various spy/military/police factions of the government have differing agendas. I am hoping this is the case because quite honestly, if the only reason the Alliance was after River was because she might have psychically overheard something that could be embarassing/damaging to them, then I am really annoyed. Which brings me to the next bit of oversimplification ...

The Alliance Sekrit: It seems a little too weird, a bit too convenient, and oversimplified that the one thing they fear River remembering to be the experiment on Miranda. I mean okay, sure, it's a big bad secret. The Alliance meddling with people physically/mentally to make them docile and obedient members of their society - that's big. But it's terribly flawed. Wouldn't there be lots and lots of other reasons why her escape could be damaging to them? Wasn't she a big investment for them scientifically if not militarily? Why would that information necessarily be something that River was exposed to? Would the scientists who were experimenting on her just happen to be the same ones that were involved with that work?? Was it an early part of the experimentation on humans that lead to what was being done to her? That is possible I suppose, but seems rather unlikely. She was an extraordinary individual and it seemed like the work being done on her was for other more interesting purposes than simply being able to make her docile or controllable, neither of which they had done, by the by. More it seemed that she was being designed to be a weapon. The only possibility I think is likely to tie the two together is that they were trying to make super-weapons perhaps in the hopes of eliminating the Reavers? I dunno - it's all a bit weak and unlikely. And is that the only thing they were afraid she might pick up and remember? That also seems ludicrous. If the Alliance had inevitably been responsible for creating Reavers with their illegal machinations, surely there were a LOT of other illegal, evil, and inappropriate things that they had done and could get in trouble for that she could have potentially "overheard".

Now one could argue that they were worried about her leaking all kinds of information, though you have to wonder who would take a crazy girl with no evidence seriously. But the indication made by the movie was no, it was just the one sekrit they were worried about. Why do I say this? Because the villian, at the end, tells the Alliance that the Tams are "no longer a threat" and that "the damage is done". Uh-huh. Whatever. He also tells Mal that they might be after them in "retaliation" - not to get River back and finish their experiments, not because she has more juicy knowledge trapped in her head. Just because they might be pissed off.

I also find it odd and ironic that the one thing that River says, that she remembers, is Miranda. Why would that come up at all? They were triggering her fighting training, which doesn't appear to have been installed simply due to the potential backlash of the whole Miranda experiment.

Reavers & Miranda: More problems here. For one, if a certain amount of the population on Miranda went crazy violent and insane, then why was everything so clean and perfect? This was exactly my problem with Bushwhacked. It makes NO SENSE. The Reavers are wild rabid animal crazy. Even if there had only been a small percentage of them, they would have slaughtered everyone in sight, who wouldn't have even put up a fight, and they probably would have trashed the place as well. Things wouldn't have been so tidy. Of course one could argue that they just didn't happen to be in that particular area, but that's awfully convenient.

And what about the message that they found? I guess that scientist wasn't murdered there, cause the place wasn't torn apart, the door wasn't smashed in (as we heard it happening in the message) and there wasn't a shredded body there or remains thereof. So if she didn't record the message there, then where did she record it and how did it get there? The obvious and easy answer to that question is that the Alliance came afterward, found the message somewhere else, took it to this location, and played it there to find out what happened. But that is not the case. The message is found in a ship that has crashed, a Research + Rescue ship ... most likely the one the woman was on when she made the recording.

If the former is the case, then this brings up yet another problem. Why didn't the Alliance destroy the cities, get rid of the bodies, hide the evidence? First rule of making a big mistake - destroy the evidence! They should have nuked the planet from on high and gotten rid of everything. Clearly they got this information somehow and the movie makes it appear that the device has the message in it. Now it could be that the message got sent on some special secret frequency, but it still doesn't explain how the disk bearing the message was found in such an untouched place. Somebody had to have moved that disk from where it was actually recorded. I can only assume that the Alliance did not because a) they probably couldn't get past the Reaver territory and b) if somehow they could have gotten past it, they probably would have destroyed all the evidence.

Sekrit Code: I have a problem with Simon having a "sekrit code" with which to knock River out. For one, in Objects in Space he is clearly completely startled and shocked to learn of River's fighting/shooting abilities. And in both Objects and Safe he shows a complete lack of realization that River has psychic abilities. He is constantly being shown to have little to no knowledge of what is wrong with her, what was done to her, etc etc. That he would have been told a code word and told to use it on her when she went out of control seems a bit silly. If he had such a word, I think he would have used it before now and he certainly would have been less surprised at the things that happened and the suggestions that were made about her purpose of being both a Reader and an assasin/weapon. I think this was another one of those things that they put in "for the movie" to make things go more smoothly despite it not concurring with the history of the series. The only good aspect of this is that it is a way to turn River off without someone in the crew having the ability to beat her. Because if one of them was able to best her, then there would have been no way she could have beaten all those Reavers.

Too Many Eggs, Just One Basket: I feel like Joss put all of his eggs in one basket on this one. I realize that he probably did this for the same reasons Straczynski did in season 4 of Babylon 5; no guarantee that he'll get another chance to tell any more of the story. Still, it annoyed me because it was too much to stuff into a two hour movie. I suppose I feel this way more because I love the pace and slow build up from the TV show, which I understand could not be continued with a movie. But I still wish he had done a little less. For one, if the movie does do well and they make sequels, too many beans have been spilled. Of course there are still more, but I feel like he set off the biggest firecracker first and the others are not going to have as much firepower. In the end I think it bugs me because by putting that much firepower in the movie takes away from the character development/time in the movie, and that's the stuff that I really love.

Compressing Characters: Although I understand why they did it, I was annoyed with their handling of Book and the fact that his secret did not get revealed. No big for the new viewers, but a bit of a slap in the face for us fans. Course if there are more movies coming, just because you're dead doesn't mean you don't still work for Joss. So his story may yet be revealed. In the same way I was also a bit disappointed with how River's story was compressed and simplified to being a risk to a secret, not a weapon they wanted back to continue their work on or something else more interesting. But this still could be a factor for future movies if my theory about other agencies comes through.

Blue Sun: Where was Blue Sun?? Hopefully if there are more movies, that part will come out as well. I have my theories about the bigger and more complex picture involving Blue Sun and I'm hoping that they, or something along those lines, is what is in Joss' head as well. Speaks directly to a lot of what we are seeing happening in our government right now and I think it's a good warning message to put out there, and aren't warning messages about the future a proud and true tradition of science fiction films? ;)

Character Deaths: While I was annoyed at Book's death (though not really that disappointed - he was never one of my favorite characters) and downright sad at Wash's, I think both were a good move on Joss' part. I concur that having NO ONE die after such an adventure is highly unlikely considering what they did and went through. It added a good chunk of realism. And besides, it's so wild and rare to kill off a major character in such a sudden and unexpected moment and way. It's almost a pointless death. Wash doesn't die rescuing someone or jumping off and doing something heroic. I was so shocked by it that for a little while I didn't think he was dead, just badly injured. I kept thinking, "He'll be okay, they'll come back for him later ..." and then I noticed just how wide the diameter of the spike going through his chest was and realized that no, he was way dead. I have to admit it didn't sadden me then, but when Mal asks Zoe how the ship is and she says, "She's a bit torn up sir, but she'll hold together" I knew she was speaking about herself and tears came to my eyes. And when I saw the dinosaurs on the console. Oh boy, did I cry! But in the end these deaths were good because not only do they add some weight (moreso Wash than Book) but if there are more movies, there will be two less characters to try to squeeze into a 2 hour flick. More time for the other characters.

Inara, Warrior Companion: Okay so this is a really silly nitpick, but what the fuck was up with Inara's bra outfit for the final battle?? It looked like a Xena, Warrior Princess thing and totally pulled me out of my comfortable space of suspended disbelief because a) it looks like nothing she normally wears and b) it looked utterly ridiculous. Bah. I never realized a bad costuming decision could alter my involvement in a film so dramatically, but apparently it can.

Mister Universe: This another character, like the villian, that I just didn't care for. If he's so connected and out there and streaming all this information and a friend/aquaintance of Mal's, I find it curious that he never came up in the series. I also just didn't care for him all that much. He was a plot device, nothing more. And coming from a show that is all about characters? Having a character for the simple purpose of being a plot device is annoying. And what kind of a name is "Mr. Universe"? How hokey is that?

Assurances and Good Stuff: Pretty much everything with the main cast on Serenity is great. The interactions, the dialog, all precious as gems. Interesting to see everyone, especially Mal and Simon, to be a lot more hard-ass and a lot darker. Simon grew not just one spine, but two! And Mal? Very dark. I'm hoping that the comic books explain the shift into a darker space (Inara's depature? Something with Book? Something else entirely?), since he only dallied along that edge in the series. But Joss always wanted Mal to be a lot darker than he was on the show and he clearly took him there for the movie. And of course the circumstances that happen during the movie fed into that darkness. Like him shooting the Alliance officer with his hands up coming out of the wreckage and using the bodies of their friends to disguise their ship as a Reaver ship. Damn. The bit with Mal using the Reavers as his own personal army? Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. And seeing the Reaver ships break through the clouds? So Damn Fucking Cool! River in the bar? So excellent. River whupping Reaver ass and standing there all bloody and bladed? Unbelieveably excellent.

When the movie started I have to admit I was filled with dread at the whole "history recap" thing, which they then blessedly turned into a lesson (very clever) and then turned into a dream (even more clever). Good way to get across basic info in a sneaky and quick way. And the bit where the teacher stabs River in the head? I think everyone in the theater, myself included, jumped about a foot! >;)

I wish there could have been more interesting Inara mileage and Kaylee mileage. Kaylee just got short shrift and the stuff with Inara was kinda weird and awkward. Having her as the "trap" bit just to get her back on board the ship felt like another plot device rather than a natural progression of the story. And of course once there she was inconsequential and fairly useless. Better when she was in the vid Mal watches (man, that was great for setting up his feelings for her!) and their conversation on the "phone".

Honestly, though, except for the points I brought up earlier, nearly everything else in the movie delighted me, charmed me, excited me, had me leaning forward in my seat and nearly bouncing with delight. I could point out each bit individually but it would be, well, pretty much every bit I haven't already pointed out, and this posting is long enough I suspect. >;)

One last thing though. Tonight I saw a trailer for Serenity for the first time on the big screen and immediately let out a hoot of delight as I recognized the ship! >;) Big silly that I am! The trailer looks fantastic, which is great. I'm hoping that it will convince a lot of people to check the film out.