Serenity - no spoilers.
Oct. 3rd, 2005 03:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sister_luckIt may seem like overdoing it, but I'll write two separate posts reviewing Serenity. One is going to be spoilerfree but I'll cut it nevertheless, because you might not want to read the review. You might not be interested in it at all or you might want to see it without my thoughts in your head. And having two posts allows you to comment on the spoilerfree review without stumbling across the spoilers.
Here goes:
First, a note of caution: I saw the German version and that takes away an awful lot. For example, there is one particular line that was translated rather crudely and of course, the characters are not complete without their voices. (And it is disconcerting when Mal sounds like Spike who sounds like Patrick from Coupling.)
My verdict: A very good sci-fi action flick. It's more conventional than some of the episodes - without spoiling too much there are the usual set pieces like the space chase, the final stand-off between the bad guys and the good guys. Structurally Serenity follows the mold of the action film. Joss Whedon played it safe in this respect. He took the characters and makes them work on the big screen. He didn't quite take the easy route with the characters, but I'd better comment on this elsewhere.
It was a highly enjoyable film with better humour and more darkness than the usual sci-fi fodder. But I wasn't totally blown away. It didn't grip me like some of the Firefly episodes did. It was gripping, but I felt detached from what was going on. I can't quite say why - the language might be a factor, but I'm afraid it might also be the fairly conventional plotting.
Don't get me wrong. I will watch the film again in its original language. There was a lot of stuff I loved about it: the humour, the bad guy, a lot of the cinematography, several aspects of the storyline including the fight scenes. I don't want to comment on the acting - what I saw was really good, what I heard was okay for a dubbed film, but not the real deal.
Maybe what I missed in the film is what I admire most in Joss Whedon's other work. He takes conventions and turns them on their head, but I don't think he managed to do this with Serenity. Maybe he didn't want to for once, maybe he just wanted to show the suits that he can do a mainstream sci-fi film (with serious undercurrents and proper characterization). If that was his aim, he succeeded.
I think I prefer Objects in Space to the movie.
Here goes:
First, a note of caution: I saw the German version and that takes away an awful lot. For example, there is one particular line that was translated rather crudely and of course, the characters are not complete without their voices. (And it is disconcerting when Mal sounds like Spike who sounds like Patrick from Coupling.)
My verdict: A very good sci-fi action flick. It's more conventional than some of the episodes - without spoiling too much there are the usual set pieces like the space chase, the final stand-off between the bad guys and the good guys. Structurally Serenity follows the mold of the action film. Joss Whedon played it safe in this respect. He took the characters and makes them work on the big screen. He didn't quite take the easy route with the characters, but I'd better comment on this elsewhere.
It was a highly enjoyable film with better humour and more darkness than the usual sci-fi fodder. But I wasn't totally blown away. It didn't grip me like some of the Firefly episodes did. It was gripping, but I felt detached from what was going on. I can't quite say why - the language might be a factor, but I'm afraid it might also be the fairly conventional plotting.
Don't get me wrong. I will watch the film again in its original language. There was a lot of stuff I loved about it: the humour, the bad guy, a lot of the cinematography, several aspects of the storyline including the fight scenes. I don't want to comment on the acting - what I saw was really good, what I heard was okay for a dubbed film, but not the real deal.
Maybe what I missed in the film is what I admire most in Joss Whedon's other work. He takes conventions and turns them on their head, but I don't think he managed to do this with Serenity. Maybe he didn't want to for once, maybe he just wanted to show the suits that he can do a mainstream sci-fi film (with serious undercurrents and proper characterization). If that was his aim, he succeeded.
I think I prefer Objects in Space to the movie.
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no subject
Date: 2005-10-03 10:11 am (UTC)Damnit they tamed our Joss!
Chani
PS: You saw some JM ladies from London really?
no subject
Date: 2005-10-03 10:50 am (UTC)And anyway - this review sounds far too negative - it's difficult to talk about the good stuff without spoilers. I don't think they've really tamed Joss - basically he has shown all the guys trying their hand at action-adventure- sci-fi how it should be done. It's all about the medium. It's unfair to compare it to 'arthouse' films which don't have to follow the constraints of the genre-specific plot conventions and I guess I somehow did this.
It is a very good film - but the version I saw wasn't brilliant. I've still got hope for the English version, because I'm sure that this will be able to draw me in a lot more.
Please don't be discouraged from watching it.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-03 11:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-03 11:30 am (UTC)Hey, most of the Buffy plotlines structurally followed the tv conventions.
Basically that's my major - and only - problem with the film. I was surprised several times by plot points (yes, I gasped) but I never doubted that the main plot would be resolved favourably for the crew of the Serenity - with some sacrifices of course.
The message on the other hand - that's pure Joss and there are several literary allusions which I loved.