take me out into the black

I went to a sneak-preview of Serenity tonight. You know how you see the trailers for a movie, and think, "hey, that looks really cool", and anticipate seeing it, then when it finally comes out you go see it and are left feeling empty and disappointed? Well, enough about the Revenge of the Sith.

Serenity was nothing like that. Where Sith was fast food that left you feeling nothing but gas, Serenity was a seven-course meal. Serenity is shiny.

Now, I have been a fan of Firefly (the TV series on which Serenity is based) ever since I first saw the series after the DVDs were released. So, I figured that my review might be somewhat biased. Therefore I took a friend's 11 year old daughter, who had never seen Firefly, to see it with me. Her response? "That was cool"... "Zoe was off da chain" (which I think means cool)... "awesome"... and to her dad: "Now you and (her sister) have to go see it too".

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

In Serenity, some of the mysteries that formed major plot points in the TV series get resolved: the origin of River's madness is explained, and also the origin of the Reavers. And yes, the two topics are related. Another mystery that drove the series is not solved, and indeed may never be due to action that takes place in the film.

Joss Whedon has a delightful habit: he takes a cliche, builds up to its oh-so-predictable conclusion, and at the last moment stands the cliche on its ear. Whether it is with a deft turn of phrase or an unexpection action, he manages to demolish cliches left and right.

For instance, the cliche might be the damaged ship, having taken a beating, attempting to make an emergency landing. In the cliche, the damaged ship manages a picture-perfect landing. In Serenity, when the damaged ship comes in for the landing, it is really rough, and large, crucial chunks of the ship get torn off.

In the cliche, the badly-wounded crewmember makes a miraculous recovery. In Serenity, he dies. And not in a Spock-cop-out way either, he's done for, fini. And to see two members of your regular cast kick the bucket? Unheard-of except in Whedon's 'verse.

In the cliche, the bad guy doesn't think he's the bad guy. In Serenity, not only does the bad guy know he's bad, he even says that he is evil. And he is comfortable with that. And instead of the good guy killing the bad guy, or vice-versa, at the end they agree to never see each other again.

There are some memorable moments in this movie: the hulking fighter Jayne getting knocked out by the waif-like River - twice; the space battle between the Reavers and the Alliance, instigated by the Serenity; the extraordinary grace of River as she fights entire rooms full of people.

And there are some memorable quotes as well. Jayne to Mal: "sure would be nice if we had some HAND GRENADES right about now." Kaylee to Simon: "you mean... like... sex?" Mal to the crew, talking about his conversation with Inara: "Did you see us fighting?" "no." "Trap."

All in all, this was a very satisfying experience. It had everything: comedy, tragedy, romance, violence, despair and hope. I definitely want to see this movie again.

Serenity opens across North America on September 30th. Go see it. Several times.

Update: Justin Buist reviews the movie here.

Update 2: another review by Jason Kuznicki

Update 3: Holy wow, thanks for the instalanche, Professor Reynolds.

Update 4: Orson Scott Card reviews Serenity here.

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