Serenity: Epitaph to the Firefly Series (2005)

Director: Joss Whedon

Starring: The Ole Firefly Cast

Website: http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/serenity-1/

"Half of writing history is hiding the truth."

-Malcolm Reynolds

I love Firefly. And when I heard there was this movie about it also available for viewing, you can bet I was excited. I didn't get my hands on it until recently, but it was worth it - but also so different from what I expected.

Yes, Mal and his crew are all back for one more roaring ride through space in an adventure that will close the series for good. I really wish they had gone further and created more movies about these characters, as they really are priceless, but it could not come to pass, and will not, with both the events in the film and the external limits like money holding it back. A tragic case...let us glorify this last voyage, though.

The plot is that apparently when the government was operating on River Tam's brain, they let in a host of high class officials to examine her, and what was in their minds was transmitted to hers, being that she is a psychic. Now, a bounty hunter is out to kill her before the information in her brain can get out. But since she's with the Serenity crew...it will prove harder than he thought.

All the trademarks of the series are here. There is no one reason why this is good; it just is. The characters are wonderfully written and acted, the action is top notch, the storylines are gripping and draw the viewer in, and the scenery is just wonderful, imaginative and creative as hell. These are very basic facets of creating a quality story that Serenity and Firefly both exhibited in spades. You really care about these characters, and if you've seen the whole series before this, which you should have, then it's like you've been traveling with them a long time. It was good to see them all again when this started up, after a month and a half of no Firefly related material. All the action is kick ass, the chases exciting and the dialogue as sharp-ended as ever. It's like mana from heaven for a seasoned Firefly fan hungering for more.

Some of the best moments include Mal's ending fight with the bounty hunter in the control room - looks like something out of Star Wars. But somehow it being a fist-fight makes it that much more gripping and vital than anything that series ever put out. Also, I just love the scenery here. Look at the scene when all of the armies are coming together in front of that planet - gorgeous, just pure beauty. And Mr. Universe was a fun guy while he was on screen.

But things take a darker turn - perhaps darker than expected. Without a warning, at around the halfway point, we see some of our favorite characters beginning to get killed off in shockingly quick, startling deaths. What happened? My reaction was one of dull-edged shock. It was hard to watch, but at the same time, I knew it was inevitable. I won't spoil who dies here, though. That's one thing I can't do.

It is a bold move from Joss Whedon, but understandable all the same. He isn't pandering here to an audience of impressionable teenagers who don't understand Firefly beyond the hot characters and the flashy battle scenes; he's making as much of an artistic statement here as can be made with the series. This is, as much as I hate to say it, the end of the series for good, with no chance of coming back. It makes sense that some of the characters die. That's what would happen - do you think they'd really all survive these intense battles and come out alive every time? This is a series all grown up and packing to leave. And we can only watch in silence, jaws on the floor.

Oh, sure. In their world, they will continue on. They will find new members of their crew, and they will have more adventures in space, burning through the fields of stars and through plains of sand on planets unknown, but with that funeral at the end of this movie, it's clear: the best days of their lives have come and gone. It will never again be the same without the entirety of their crew from the old days, and sometimes, that's the way it has to be, as sad as it is. RIP.

Firefly (2002-2005)

Creator: Joss Whedon

Starring: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Morena Baccarin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Summer Glau, Ron Glass.

Well, I have to admit, this series is just amazing, and why didn't I check it out before? I don't know. It must have been some kind of error in logic on my part. Whatever it was, this series is fucking awesome, and that's really the first thing you need to know about it. I'm really going to keep this short, because...well, what else is there to say? The story's engaging, the characters are masterfully written, the acting is great, the direction is gritty and stylish as hell...it's just a great show all around.

It's about, well, space pirates. Space pirates who travel in a spaceship (called Serenity) but do business and battle in suspiciously Old Western-style settings a lot of the time. The theme of the show is basically that Earth's nations liquidized down into just America and China as world powers, and those cultures inter-mingled and expanded across an entire galaxy of moons, planets and other manner of foreign, far away places. The main story revolves around a grizzled, sarcastic war veteran named Mal, and his crew, composed of first mate Zoe, her husband Wash the pilot, cute, spunky mechanic Kaylee, big, dumb and tough Jayne and the seductive "companion" Inara. They pick up a preacher named Book, and are further joined by fugitive doctor Simon Tam and his government-addled sister River, who isn't quite all there like most people are.

So there's your crew. They're all played by very, very good actors, and the character writing is just wonderful - subtle enough to not become too shallow, but they don't throw anything in your face, either. The dialogue is good, quirky and realistic and it really lets you relate to these people. Joss Whedon said that he wanted a show that offered sci-fi action in a more humane context, to where the viewers could really get involved with the characters and the fact that they, like us, are just regular people, with the same problems we have. There are romantic tensions and old friendships, and everyone has their own motivations.

But that isn't the only thing this show does well, as the other main draw is just the huge amount of kick-ass action and suspense the show gives us with every new adventure. You can pack a lot of stuff into 45 minutes, and the show makes full use of that. Every episode is packed with two or three subplots as well as a main one running through the larger whole, and it's all really interesting and cool to watch. I could go on about all of the episodes here, but really that would take too long, so I'll just sum up a few of my favorites. I think the point where I really fell in love with the show was the fourth episode "Shindig," in which Mal fights in a sword duel against a guy named Atherton Wing, who not only has the nerve to steal Inara, the woman who he likes but is too prideful to admit, but also to disrespect her. It's heroic and cool, but the rest of the ship has their own motivations - like Kaylee, who wants a dress to go to the party, even though she really doesn't fit in. Everything is given equal weight.

In "Ariel," we get heavy plot dynamics and exciting chase scenes as Jayne turns on the doctor and his sister, selling them out to the Feds. The scene where Mal almost kills him toward the end is just completely chilling, as well done as can be. This is the kind of stuff that movie producers wish they could put out. In "Out of Gas," we see the ship desolate and cold, switching between flashbacks of the crew back when they were first getting together, flashbacks of a more recent time as the ship, well, runs out of gas, and the present, in which a bloodied, out-of-breath Mal gropes in the dark, trying to find a way to stay alive. Haunting and masterful.

In "Objects in Space," which would tragically be the last episode, a new character named Jubal Early is introduced. He acts like a young Samuel L. Jackson and completely steals the show with his witty diatribes and cool, unpredictable actions. The conflicts between him and the crew are spirited and gripping, and what better way is there than this to end a show, if the bitter end is indeed coming? You go out with a party, fighting hard and giving it your all. That's what Firefly does here. Long live Firefly, and may new fans discover it by the hour. What a great show.