Serenity again

[llywela]

I loved Serenity when I first went to see it a fortnight ago, and I hadn't seen the series it was based on then, Firefly. I knew of it vaguely, it being a Joss Whedon project, and Firefly had been on my list of 'DVDs to buy one day when I have money' pretty much since it came out, but I'd never got around to actually buying and watching it. It was the trailers for Serenity that drew me in, and then the film hooked me. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but everything about it appealed to me.

So, coming out of the film all enthused, I invested in those DVDs at last, on finding them half price (thanks, HMV!). Fourteen episodes - all they managed to make before Fox pulled the plug - were viewed avidly, and a whole new obsession was born.

I love Firefly. I love the concept and vision of it, the snarkiness, and every character of the nine-man ensemble cast. It is fantastic.

So, now that the background was firmly established with this viewing behind me, I took myself off to see Serenity again. I loved it even more now that I was familiar with the characters and situations.

Wash was my favourite character from my first viewing of the film, and this was reinforced by watching the series, although the oh-so snarky Doctor Simon is edging into second place. Watching the film again, Wash remains the favourite though. It is interesting to see his position in the crew solidifying and becoming so much stronger in the film. Too often in the series he comes off as one of the flimsier characters, shoved into the background for use as comic relief. But in the film he comes into his own as a valued and important crew member, still very funny - that is part of who he is - but he feels more solid, more depended on. He holds a very important middle ground in the crew, who are very much divided into two halves. On the one side you have Mal, Zoe and Jayne, the soldiers, and on the other side you have Simon, Kaylee, River and Inara, the civilians. Wash sits squarely in the middle of these two camps, almost like a fulcrum, balancing them out.

I was even more gutted that he died second time around, and I knew it was coming! I can see why they did it, though. As the actor himself has commented - Wash is a good sympathetic death. He's such a sweetheart, and he and Zoe are so in love, that seeing him killed so abruptly and brutally hits all the harder. Plus, of course, this is a Joss Whedon production. Wash and Zoe were happily married, and Joss never allows couples in his productions to be happy for long. One of them was bound to die, and of the two, Wash was always the most likely.

Doesn't mean I have to like it though. Poor Wash. :-(

Shepherd Book's death, on the other hand, had far more of an impact on me second time around. Watching the film for the first time, as a complete Firefly novice, it wasn't obvious that he'd ever been a crew member and regular cast member. His death obviously had an impact on the characters of the film, but made little impression on me until I'd seen the series and realised exactly who he was. And even then it still upset me less than Wash.

There are some wonderfully funny moments in the film, River's only concern on narrowly escaping a Reaver attack being that "I swallowed a bug" being just one. And Kaylee and Simon finally get together! Oh, the joy. And, now that Mal has begun the journey back toward faith in humanity and all that, there's just a glimmer or hope for him and Inara, while River has finally started to heal (although she'll always been a bit mad, no doubt). But poor Zoe. No happy ending for her.

And I loved that when we see Mal topless he has a scar just beneath his right shoulder in just the same spot that we see him get stabbed and stitched up in one of the episodes. Now, I don't know if it's a real scar the actor has and just coincidence, or if it was added by the makeup department as a homage to continuity or to make him look tougher, but either way it was cool.

There's loads more I could say, but I've already gone on long enough. *G*

Edited to add: I knew I'd forget to say something. I think my favourite line in the film comes when Mal is preparing to walk alone into the Operative's trap to rescue Inara, leaving Zoe in charge of the ship.

Mal: "Now anything goes wrong, I'm not back in an hour, you take this ship...and you come rescue me."

Closely followed by the big row in the dining area with Jayne.

Mal: "You want to run this ship?"
Jayne: "Yes!"
Mal: "Well...you can't."

Way to turn audience expectations on their head. I love that this show and this film always does that.