Do you remember “Cowboys and Aliens?” Then you probably remember how bad it sucked considering it had James Bond, Han Solo, and Aliens in the same movie. This is that same Sci-Fi/Western only much better. “Serenity” (2005) is the directorial debut of Joss Whedon, now of course famous for directing the third highest grossing film of all time in “The Avengers.” However, before that Whedon directed a film that didn’t even make it’s money back on gross with a $39M budget and only making back $25,514,517M(domestic) and $13,354,947M(worldwide). It’s a far cry from $1.5 billion.
Enough about stats; what I want to talk about is how this movie came to be because it is an extraordinary story. “Serenity” is a continuation of a TV series called “Firefly.” While “Firefly” is one of the most critically acclaimed series of all time, it only ran for one season. This is because it aired on Fox. Fox aired episodes in the wrong order and cut out three of them completely. The show was then put out on DVD and has since then gained a huge cult following. This is down to the fact you got all 14 episodes in the right order. The following grew and grew and became known as ‘The Browncoats’ after a fictional faction within the series. Of course, ‘The Browncoats’ were not happy about the way the show was treated. This led to a number of measures being taken including raising money to buy the rights from Fox. You can find out more about what happened from the documentary made by the fans called “Done The Impossible.” It all culminated in Universal acquiring the rights for a film version. The majority of the cast and crew were back on for the project. Whedon was given creative control and it really shows.
The main problem of adapting a film as a continuation of a TV series is trying to appeal to both fans of the show, and people who are completely new to it. I came in as a fan of the show, although I believe Whedon succeeds in making “Serenity” accessible to people not familiar with “Firefly.” The plot revolves around the crew of the spaceship Serenity as they are being chased down by The Alliance and a nameless, rankless man going by ‘The Operative.’ This is all because the captain of Serenity is harboring a very dangerous girl who is being used as a weapon by The Alliance due to her having psychic abilities
The crew of the Serenity consists of Mal (Nathan Fillion), the captain and a war veteran from the civil warbetween ‘The Alliance’ and ‘The Browncoats’ which ‘The Browncoats’ lost, Zoe (Gina Torres), Mal’s first mate in war and on the ship, Wash (Alan Tudyk), the pilot and Zoe’s husband, Kaylee (Jewel Staite), the shipwright, Jayne( Adam Baldwin), the “muscle” of the ship, Simon (Sean Maher), the ship’s doctor, and River (Summer Glau), Simon’s sister and the reason ‘The Alliance’ is after the crew. Summer is growing slowly more insane and it is interfering with Mal’s plan as he does jobs, legal or otherwise, to support everybody on the ship. River is losing her grip on reality and it soon becomes apparent that she is a danger to the crew. They are also being hunted down by The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a ruthless assassin who believes he is achieving the greater good while ignoring the means. What follows is a chase across the universe culminating in a huge war with the little crew going against ‘The Alliance.’
“Serenity” falls into an odd genre reserved for B-movies in the Sci-fi/Western. Please don’t think that this is “Cowboys and Aliens.” “Serenity” manages to get the wonder and scope of the Sci-F genre while still being firmly grounded in the realism and simple morals of the Western genre. It does all this while still maintaining Whedon’s signature witty dialogue. It grabs your attention beautifully by having a single long shot that goes through all the layers of the ship while simultaneously introducing and at least semi-establishing all the crewmembers. So right off the bat you’re fairly caught up on the canon if you’re not familiar with it.
A recurring theme you will hear a lot of throughout the film is belief. This does not have to be a belief in God, but rather a belief in good or what someone may perceive as good. An example of this can be found when Janye, just before the first big heist sequence of the film says “Shiny, let’s be bad guys.” This shows that even if the act of doing something is itself wrong, but said act can achieve a greater goal, does it make the people committing the act wrong as well. This philosophy is seen throughout the film and to much greater consequences. It’s towards the end of the heist that we meet the other big antagonists of the film, The Reavers. The Reavers are a group of people that have lost the will to live and go to planets committing rape, murder, cannibalism and anything else you would expect any good horror monster to do.
The arrival of The Reavers makes Mal and the others scared beyond reasonable measure. Mal orders everyone in the bank they were robbing to quickly get in the vault and lock themselves inside. This shows the human element to a man driven to thievery by his government. This is the first time you see the recurring idea of what is perceived good and evil and what is actual good and evil. This whole opening scene is simply a smaller version of what the whole film is about: faith.
Faith in yourself, other people, or simply an idea can cause huge rifts and bring people closer together. When Mal is talking to a former member of his crew, Shepard Book (Ron Glass), there is a line the Shepard says that is one of the most poignant of the film’s lines. “When I talk about faith, why do you assume I’m talking about God?” This one line changed Mal’s perspective and I believe it is a pivotal point in the film. He said this line in response to hearing about ‘The Operative.’ Shepard Book has a mysterious past that we don’t know about, but it seems Book knows a lot about the inner-workings of The Alliance. Book seems to know the full capabilities of ‘The Operative’ and that his belief may even surpass Mal’s inhuman will to live.
‘The Operative’ himself is a perfect villain played by the most underrated actor working today in Ejiofor. He is reminiscent of HAL 9000 in his cold emotionless expression but is still managing to show their motives no matter how brutal. ‘The Operative’ is also solely fixated on his belief that Simon and River Tam being alive is a crime. These two beliefs clash at the climax of the film in an excellent fight scene that brings up faith in a religious context. This conflicts with Book’s earlier quote, which raises the idea of: does Mal represent belief in non-religious ways, while also spreading news to people that may be for the worst, but doing it because they have the right to know? However this puts Mal and his crew at risk as he is too proud to do otherwise. On the flipside, ‘The Operative’ represents belief in a religious way because he is being the hero in the sense that if the people know the secret that Mal is trying to spread, then more people may die. This is at a cost of his own personal morality, which is near non-existent. This is a very touchy subject but necessary for such a complicated film, if you disagree please tell me and give your argument.
“Serenity” is a very powerful film and brings across a number of ideas and questions about life while also retaining a level of rustic charm about it, and Whedon’s signature wit is stamped throughout the script. You will not feel lost if you have never seen “Firelfly,” but if you have then you will feel fulfilled. The characters are all sympathetic including the villain, and Whedon’s biggest strength shines in his ability to write strong female characters. It is both a film where you can think or just sit back and watch some explosions; but no matter how you look at it, “Serenity” is one of the most criminally under watched movies out there.
– by Paul O’Conner
