Serenity

"I am a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar." – Wash, the pilot (played by Alan Tudyk), attempting to navigate Serenity to safety, pursued by relentless Reavers, through the onslaught of Alliance ships.

I saw Serenity on Sunday and enjoyed it immensely. The film picked up where the series left off, but I think Joss Whedon did an adequate job of reintroducing the background and characters, enough to bring newcomers up to speed on the key points. My greatest fear was that it would feel like I was paying $6.50 to see a television show. Admittedly, the first part felt more suitable for the small screen than the big screen, but I think that's only because I was familiar with the series.

Actually, when Firefly was on television, I sometimes felt like I was watching a film. Part of it had to do with the special effects and part of it had to do with the set design. Whedon and his crew built both levels of Serenity in their entirety. That doesn't seem like much, but it allowed for camera angles that put me in mind of a movie. The camera could also travel the length of the ship without having to cut away, which was a nice touch.

The movie featured the entire original cast. I was happy about that because one of Firefly's strengths was its ensemble. If some of them had been missing, it would have undermined the sense of family, one of the major themes of the show and movie.

One of my other fears was that the movie would try too hard to be funny, characters becoming caricatures of themselves. That didn't happen. There were plenty of one-liners and sarcastic remarks, but they were one-liners and remarks the characters would normally make. There was also some great physical humor, in as much as fight scenes can contain physical humor. Nathan Fillion, who played Captain Malcolm Reynolds, has a way of taking a punch that makes me both cringe and laugh at the same time (an odd sight to see in itself).

Given the medium, Whedon had more freedom to do what he wanted with the story and characters. In most television shows, primary characters have an invisible safety net that protects them from irreparable harm. If a regular is shot, he or she makes a full recovery by the next episode. The safety net reduces the sense of real danger. Extras and guest stars are poor substitutes for the characters that viewers know and love.

With two twists, one I saw coming and one that blindsided me, Whedon ripped away the net and put his characters in real peril. By doing that, I think the emotions his characters expressed - fear, desperation, anger and resolve - felt more real.

Compared to other shows made into movies – I'm thinking primarily of Star Trek – Serenity is one of the best I've seen. In fact, the movie was so good, it might very well be one of the best I've seen this year. With the way it ended, I have mixed feelings about a possible sequel. I would love to see the story continue, but at the same time, I would be quite satisfied if this were the end. In either case, I'm looking forward to the DVD release. I would see it in the theater again, but I'm saving my next $6.50 for Wallace and Gromit.