Serenity Review
by Homer Yen (homer_yen AT yahoo DOT com)October 6th, 2005
"Serenity" - A River Runs Through It
Although not quite the typical name for a sci-fi film, "Serenity" is a completely watchable yarn about rebels, tyrannical parliamentarians known as the Alliance, and a waiflike girl named River Tam (Summer Glau) who can tip the balance. And while the title doesn't resonate with the kind of space operatic glory like "Star Wars," one can see the similarities.
There isn't a darkly costumed villain. But there is an enigmatic bad guy called the Operative who leads the Alliance armies on a mission to defeat the rebels. Yet, there is an arrogant, me-first Captain named Malcolm (Nathan Fillion) who grudgingly takes up the rebels cause. And while the rebels can't utilize any mystic chi called the Force, it does have the services of River Tam who is part psychic and part kung-fu warrior. As the film opens, she is rescued from the Alliance. Because she can read minds, she knows their secrets. And because she knows their secrets, she must be eliminated.
>From the outset, this looks like a project that might be doomed to fail. There's a cast of relative unknowns. In fact, only one or two of them look vaguely familiar. That would be tough-guy Jayne (Adam Baldwin) and the confrontation-avoiding Wash (Alan Tudyk) whose faces both look recognizable but you'll likely not be able to recall any film title in which they starred. I know what you're thinking. Hey, wasn't one of those guys in "Dodgeball" and the other guy part of the "X-Files"? Well, give yourself 1000 points if you knew that.
It has questionable appeal. They aren't Star Fleet Academy material. Where Capt. Picard or Kirk might command his 1st officer to take the ship out of the area if he doesn't return in an hour, this captain pleads the 1st officer to come find him. And to that, the 1st officer says, "no, if you're not here, it's my ship." And much of the dialogue follows that kind of droll repartee. Amusing is a word that best describes the level of dialogue here.
Unfortunately, much seems unexplained. In fact, there are lots of things that are not cohesively elaborated. I wasn't convinced of the rebel's cause. I wasn't sure why the captain would embrace this mission. I couldn't understand how a savage race with little intellect could understand how to pilot spaceships. I had to scope a few websites to gather other people's thoughts on just what was going on. When the film ended, I had lots of questions that seemed to have no answers or whose answers did not seem to be relevant. But then, I was informed that this science-fiction film is a resurrection of sorts based on a short-lived FOX program named "Firefly". It apparently developed a cult following even though (and again, I was told this) the series was cancelled mid-season and most of the episodes were shown out of order. Well, here, there was certainly a feeling of discontinuity.
And yet I found it inexplicably amusing. Because of the film's generally insouciant tone, I was able to pretty much forgive it for all of its shortcomings. And for that reason, and because this is the closest thing that a Star Trek fan can see, "Serenity" reaches its desired velocity.
Grade: B
S: 1 out of 3
L: 1 out of 3
V: 2 out of 3
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