****ING HELL!
yeah, i went there. this movie rocks my already rocking world something chronic. WOW.
can we talk to someone about a firefly/serenity mod for freelancer? Do i have enough clout now that i can demand this stuff?
FIRST DECREE:
"If you want the site fixed, make me shiny things"
i wax idotic about the movie on my journal, but the footnotes here are thus: WOW. Haha, no, seriously though, i laughed, i cried, i jumped, i held my breath. There's a little bit of everything for the sci-fi fan here. Humour, tension, big bangs, cunning plans, dashing heroes and lovely, lovely mechanics in teddy bear trousers who has cute hair and a little muck on her and oh im rambling. Yes. Good.
Whedon's dialogue, as always, is spot on and finally presents us with something that isnt technobabble or the cringeworthy ramblings of george lucas' prequels. While not being able to hold a candle to lucas' bottomless money-pit in terms of special effects, Serenity's space scenes never drop the ball. The real action is happening on sound stages not bluescreen and relies more on Whedon's story and the character's interaction than wowing us with "next years tech...today!". Like Episode IV, CGI is used to set the scene more than anything else.
The dominance of the Reavers in the film is a bit of a masterstroke. No longer relegated to hear-say and travelers tales, we finally get to see them close-up and see them set upon people like orcs and uruk-hai, listening to the screams of their victims. These arent scenes for youngsters. Working with what he has though, Whedon never lingers on them, showing only brief shots of them before cutting away. We never get the "man in suit" shot where the illusion is dropped, he keeps pushing it with fast cuts and sudden flashes of sound and picture to keep your attention. It works, the Reavers are far more sinister than any sci-fi nasty in the last 5 years and echo Cameron's Aliens in their fast, hostile and persistant threat to our protagonists. And the threat is very real. Watching tv shows, you know your heroes are going to make it though because there's more episodes to come. With Serenity, its possible this is the last outing of our crew we'll ever see so Whedon pulls no punches in messing up the status quo. If destroying the ship will throw the story off-kilter, catch the audience unawares and dash that pre-concieved ending everyone had, he'll bloody well do it. I dont think i'll be spoiling the conclusion by saying that not all the crew make it to the final credits.
Excellent.
I'm not a hater though, i'll miss any one of them. But if there's one thing that Battlestar Galactica, Lost and 24 has tought me is that i should never get comfortable. We've seen all the deus ex machina's hollywood can throw our way, tv stars have run out of lives, its time to start the culling and bring those realistic plotlines back. This freedom leaves Whedon the opportunity to re-capture the audience and dispell any notion that this was another Sci-Fi in a bag churn out. Its the old days, the bad days, the all or nothing days, theyre back. And that's just the reavers.
Add to that the cuckoo River and her developing 'talents' and the calm and collected souless assasin known only as "The Operative" and you've got more than enough for a fantastic sci-fi film.
While it wont be winning any awards for groundbreaking storytelling, it certainly shows that there's room enough in the 'verse for something other than an explosions and SFX bonanza like Star Wars or the diplomatic utopia of Star Trek. and in a year of pretty dire sci-fi, its a breath of fresh air.
-arc
Edited by - Arcon on 10/12/2005 7:57:46 PM
Edited by - Arcon on 10/12/2005 7:58:14 PM
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