I rewatched Serenity the other night. I saw it and enjoyed when it came out in 2005, but without having watched Firefly. People have often rated Firefly highly so I decided to make the effort to watch it. Firefly was not bad, but it was definitely not great. I enjoyed it but, after youve watched other Joss Whedon stuff, its comparatively meh. Its one of those things you describe as it has potential rather than recommending it for what it is and as it is. Fireflys strengths (well-rounded characters and a good balance and cross-section of characters; interesting vision of the future; neat spaceship; steering clear of certain clichés; dry humour) were often undermined by its weaknesses (a failure to make its vision of future cultures and technology coherent; the ridiculous Western obsession, a cop-out instead of trying to understand what frontier culture would be like with tech; casting; running away from some clichés it ran into the arms of others). SF doesnt have to be straight as a die with po-faced fidelity to physics, tech trends, etc. but it still has narrative constraints and a kind of coherence that it should respect, and I felt that was something Firefly missed. Just comparing Firefly with something like Battlestar Galactica, which came along two years later, helps to highlight some of the differences. So, shame it didnt get a second series, but it did free Whedon up to try other things. Anyway, back to Serenity. I really enjoyed it the first time round but, much to my surprise, was not as impressed the second time round. It had a more coherent and interesting look and feel than Firefly, a good plot and a great performance from Chiwetel Ejiofor. The weaknesses were in the main characters, which was something that Firefly got right. Films and related TV series will always have an uneasy relationship, and not just because they are different forms. But while all differences are telling, not all are necessary. The most obvious difference is that the male characters hardened up and the female characters were significantly weakened; both became more 2D. Not only did that not add to the film, it detracted from one of Fireflys strengths. OK, ramble over, cue unfriending.
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 10:25:25 +0000
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