Saturday, January 28, 2006

Serenity (2005)

What more do you want out of a SF western? Checklist: bank robbery; dizzying chase across high plains; vicious bounty hunter; Indians vs. Cavalry-style ambush; various standoffs and shootouts; to top it all off a saloon brawl (but, this being a Joss Whedon flick, where a teenage girl whups everyone singlehandedly). In this continuation/conclusion of the Firefly television series, Captain Mal Reynolds comes to terms with his sublimated freedom-fighter ideals as he escorts the babbling River Tam to a hidden planet, hoping to unlock both the secret of her madness and a truth that will bring down the authoritarian Alliance. Only problem: the Alliance is hot on their tails -- as are a tribe of (literally) bloodthirsty space zombies known as Reavers. Suddenly, there's no safe place in the 'verse for the hero-pirate crew of Serenity. Whedon understands well everything George Lucas forgot with his Star Wars prequels: a keen sense of ongoing fun, logical accelerating stakes with consequences from all sides, zippy characters who can quip their way to a happy-ish ending. Deserves a sequel. Or a revival television series...

see also: Firefly (2002)

1 comment:

  1. Strangely enough, Galaxy Quest was on cable today. How can I resist it? Answer: I can't. I am reminded of GQ here, so I suppose the timing is appropriate. I once championed The Office; now you do the same for Firefly. Ah hell, let me get to my netflix queue...

    --david

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