SERENITY

Dateline: January 17, 2008

It was our first time to watch a movie and review it. I spent probably 20-30 minutes at Blockbuster vascilating between grabbing "Saved" or not. It is a movie about Christians in a "Christian" High School. I had caught bits and pieces of it on TV and knew that it had accurately describe many teen Christians that I had known in my High School years. But the cover billed it as an "irreverent, black comedy" and I seconded guessed myself and rented nothing, figuring I would either have the group watch The Matrix, Star Wars or Serenity.

As you can tell by the title of the blog, Serenity won.

For those of you who are not familiar with Serenity let me clue you in. Joss Whedon of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" fame had a dream to present the future of the universe as...well-not star trekish. He thought the concept of mankind branching out into other universes and planets felt very much like our early pioneering days. Settlements and colonies where people were able to get a fresh start or run from problems. So the incorporation of Western elements such a styles of dress and dialog seemed to provide a "fresh" way of doing a "space opera." But unlike Star Trek, the characters where not always driven by pure motives and Starfleet decisions.

These were honest-to-goodness genuine people with genuine problems with a science fiction back drop. The original series that led to "Serenity" was called "Firefly" and aired on Fox for only one season. But being commerially expensive (the effects in the series are at least as good as in the movie) and being too smart and too well written for most average viewers, the series died a premature death.

But fans (and there were many and even more so when the DVD came out) made the Hollywood elite take notice to their outcries of a need to see the crew of the Serenity come to the big screen. You really do need to see the series to enjoy all that its creators, writers and directors have to offfer. Even if your not a Scifi fan, there is enough humor, warmth, witty bantor, terrific one-liners and charm for everyone. You really will love each character for his individuallity.

Now on to the movie.

Serenity is a ship. A spaceship filled with interesting characters, some that you will never hear their backstory and that's okay. It fills this ship with a sense of mystery and wonder and it feels like real life because these characters are deep and we don't always understand them and that's real life.

The main characters are:
Captian Mal Reynolds, a former soldier-turned-space-pirate-but-still-good-guy-but-he-doesn't-want-you-to-know. He is utterly loyal to his crew but you have to earn being called crew and he fights when he should run and runs when he should talk. He has a way with words but not with women. And when he fights...whoa.

River Tam is a seventeen year old creature of extraordinary grace...and the most lethal weapon in the entire movie. Big brother government is trying to make people better. And it ain't right. River is their crowning acheivement and also the secret keeper to their biggest mistake.

The Operative is probably one of the best written dialog character bad guy that I have seen in a long time. He devotion to finding Mal and River knows no bounds. He's a character that understands his role and is scarry in such a calm way. Assassin. Philosopher. Very frightening.

There are others characters and if your a fan of the series they are characters that you truly love. Jayne, the pumped-up tough guy that packs alot of weapons but not alot of brains. Kylie is your ships engineer with dimples and a heart of gold. Wash and Zoe are pilot and XO. Doctor Simon Tam, River's brother, and Shepherd Book is the spiritual guide of the crew. Oh, and how could I forget Inara, the Captain's love interest and bait for the Operative.

These characters are important and serve the completion of the crew but for the sake of the movie it is about Mal and River and the Operative's pursuit for the truth. There is one other character that is the beginning and end of this pursuit for the truth. The Reavers.

Described as men who onced went to the edge of the 'verse and went crazy from seeing the nothingness, they have become worse than animals. Once men that cut themselves, deeply, and raid human outposts for food, perferring to eat their meals fresh, while they are still kicking and screaming.

The truth is, the Reavers are the by-product of a government experiment to "make men better" by introducing a chemical, "the Pox", into the atmoshpere that suppresses mankind aggresion gene. for 90% of the population it works. Only too well. They loose all desires. The desire to eat, the desire to care, the desire to even live and simply lay down and die because they don't care. This is almost as frightening as what happens to the 10%.

They become Reavers. So aggressive they even tear themselves apart. They're on ships that they've strung the dead across the bow and run the reactors on their ships that they are bathed in radioactivity. The term sub-human applies only too well.

River Tam has this information locked in her brainpan and its driving her mad. Captain Mal's way has always been to protect that which can't protect themselves (and it helps that he has a healthy loathing of the current government). The Operative is a true believer, a government man. He doesn't question orders and he believes he is making a "world without sin."

Some very interesting dynamics follow where ever these three are. Captian Mal treats River like a daughter or little sister, careful to not press her beyond her already tattered mental state and having no clue just how unnecessary that is. River is lovable and frightening, vulnerable and invincible, feminine and cruel in all the right proportions and you really do want her to find peace but not loose any of that edge that carries so much of the movie. The Operative is singular in his pursuit, willing to kill children and innocents and leave nearly nothing to chance. His ego is large but not I an overplayed way that you see so many Bond villians. He is scarry and capable. He is a beleiver and a dangerous one.

The movie has its flaws, but overall, and especially in recent years, it is very well written, well acted and you actually feel connected to the characters and the story. It really is a western set in space and its fun to watch and catch the "western" jargin.

There some really good spiritual aspects to the film. Aside from the good vs. evil and government is bad elements, the ideology of a "true believer" is really hammered here and to much effect. On the one hand you have the Operative that believes in his cause. So much so that nothing will stop him and he even acknowledges that he himself is evil and has no place in the "world without sin" that he trying to create. And he has no problems with that.

Mal, on the other hand, has no beliefs. He certainly does not subscribe to a higher power, nor really any authority higher than himself. Its his ship, his rules and at one stage when giving some pretty horrific orders, he threatens the crew that if they don't like it, they can either leave or be shot. But Captain Mal, really is a believer in the end. He believes in the underdog and is willing to die for the truth he has found, delivering its message to all the 'verse and turning the Operative into a convert, instead of killing him.

Just when you think the guy should shut up and shoot, he dies. Just when you think you're safe and the crew is finally getting a break, someone dies. The message is clear. The characters are real.

Watch the series. See the movie again. Give me your feedback.