Film's Addict's January Film Choice

It was one of my best friends' birthday last week so like I did back in August for my kid sister, I have dedicated the Film Addict's January Film Choice to her and she chose Serenity, the film sequel to the Firefly TV series, one of her favourite films as well as mine.

Serenity is the film continuation of Joss Whedon's TV series Firefly, a space western, with the same main cast that portrayed the crew in the TV series plus new additions which allows the world Whedon created to be expanded.  Stars of Serenity include Nathan Fillion (Castle, Slither), Gina Torres (The Matrix Reloaded, Suits), Alan Tudyk (I, Robot, Frozen), Adam Baldwin (Chuck, The Last Ship), Summer Glau (Arrow, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Jewel Staite (Stargate Atlantis, Space Cases), Sean Maher (Much Ado About Nothing, Arrow), Morena Baccarin (V, Gotham), and Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave, American Gangster), many of whom have starred in other works that Whedon has directed and written.

Like the Film Addict's May, August, and November Film Choice, there is a special point that I have added that my friend picked and this time it was her favourite part.

Rating: 9

Recommended To: Anyone; Joss Whedon fans; sci-fi fans

Favourite Characters: Mal - typical outlaw hero; Wash - always been my favourite

Favourite Part: Wash: It's okay, I'm a leaf on the wind!
Mal: What does that mean?

Good Points: Characters were fantastic; expansion of the universe Serenity is set in; continuation from the TV series

Bad Points: Not quite the same as the TV series

Special: First scene on-board Serenity

About six months after the events of the Firefly TV series, Shepherd Book (Glass) and Inara (Baccarin) have left the ship Serenity and River (Glau) and Simon Tam (Maher), brother and sister, are still being pursued by the Alliance who now have the Operative (Ejiofor) tracking them down because of River's psychic abilities and what she may know.  Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Fillion) is running his smuggling operation with Zoe (Torres) as his second in command and Jayne (Baldwin) as back up out on their excursions off the ship while Wash (Tudyk) pilots the ship and Kaylee (Staite) ensures that Serenity will stay in the air as they all aim to misbehave.  Whilst taking River with them on a bank robbery, they are attacked by Reavers, savage cannibals, but fortunately with Wash's piloting skills, Mal and co. escape.  When arguing about River's safety, Mal agrees with Simon that the Tam siblings will leave the next port.  At the port when Mal and Jayne begin to negotiate with their customers, River is triggered by subliminal messages during an advert and attacks all of the patrons of the bar she and the crew are in until Simon stops her.  Due to River's outburst, the crew reluctantly agree to allow the Tams to stay until they can figure out why the Alliance really want River and what "Miranda" means.

As always, the chemistry between the main cast and is has been since the beginning of the series and I'm glad this has continued into the film as if the series never ended and they actually live on the ship like it's real.  This is what makes Serenity such a great film for me as all of the characters are fantastic and incredibly loyal to their portrayal in the TV series which is expected seen as they are portrayed by the same actors.  Alone or together they are wonderful, all unique and well thought out as they mesh together, making a great crew.  While the film just throws you straight into the story without really introducing the characters, you do get a sense of them within the first scene they are seen but I would recommend watching the series prior which truly established the characters.

After being established in the series, Serenity expanded the universe more as we meet more characters and new places which makes the film and franchise interesting as it brings in more background to the universe in which this film is set and origins of the characters.  Through this expansion, we get to see how Mal's operation works even better than we did in the sieres because we get to see Mal and co. interact with their buyers - Fanty and Mingo in this case, bringing better understanding of the characters' lives as smugglers.  As well as bringing in more information on Mal's operation, expanding on the background of the Reavers as well as River and Simon's past gave more insight into the universe and the story behind the series which is wonderful for fans.

Much like the expansion of the story, bringing in new characters and providing more background to various aspects of the universe that this film exists in, the way it was continued was done extremely well because it brought back elements I loved - the same crew six months on from the series and the combination of western and science fiction - and it brought a bit more of a satisfying end to the series though I always want more from Firefly and the crew of Serenity which is probably why I watch anything that the actors are in.  Due to being able to continue, relationships were able to develop and explored such as Simon and Kaylee's which was always hinted at becoming more than friends but was wasn't fully embraced until the film right at the end, something some fans have longed for since they met.  Even the crew's relationship with River which was always a difficult one - especially Jayne's relationship with her - because they couldn't fully trust her has developed as everyone has started to soften and she is even being included in jobs, implying that she and Simon are definitely part of the crew now, not just passengers, and there is some level of trust between them all.

It is impossible not to love the loveable roguish captain of Serenity as Nathan Fillion brings him to life perfectly; he's funny, he loves and cares for those around him even though he won't admit it, he's a little bad and a little good, fights for what he deems is right like an outlaw should be as he tries to bring justice to his home - in the this case, going against the law, something that defines Mal and his backstory.  His relationship with the crew and how they interact defines Firefly and Serenity as it drives their passion and they loyalty and it's Mal that brings them together, without him, the series and film wouldn't be the same and I think it's Fillion's portrayal that helps this.

While Mal is the typical outlaw hero that I love, Wash holds a special place in my heart because he makes me laugh and as has done since we met him in Firefly - playing with his dinosaurs in the cockpit and is my favourite character ultimately.  He is set up to be the comic relief in the series, trying to lighten the mood in more serious situations but does have a serious side if need be as he is not afraid to speak his mind against Mal unlike his wife but falls in line when necessary, proving his loyalty to the ship and Mal even though he isn't quite like the others.  Plus he has some fantastic shirts.

The only downside of trying to cram this story into a film was that it felt a bit underwhelming because this could have been a great story for half of a season where the story could be explored better in more detail along with other stories such as Zoe and Wash having a child, something that is forgotten from the series, and the crew handling their grief following the climax of the film,  Yes, the film holds the same appeal for me because it continues on from the series and expands on different aspects but with such a rich story, more time should have been allowed.

Wash: It's okay, I'm a leaf on the wind!
Mal: What does that mean?

There are some wonderful lines in Serenity, I struggled to pick even a small section as my favourite but after much consideration I chose this part because it defined Wash and Mal perfectly and their relationship.  After all this time working together, Mal is still wary of Wash because the latter is literally in control of the ship as he is the pilot, if he crashes Serenity, Mal is still responsible for the crew because he is the captain and can't quite hand over that last little bit of trust to Wash.  I loved that this was Wash's random way of calming himself down as he flies through a dangerous situation and Mal is confused by this; it lightens the mood as everything dire while Mal bickers with his pilot who should be concentrating solely on flying Serenity.

As a tribute to my best friend's birthday, not the one that chose Brother Bear last year, this month she chose Serenity as the Film Addict's January Film Choice and chose her favourite point about the film which was the first shot on-board Serenity as the entire crew get ready for a heist; this is one of my favourite parts of Serenity too but she beat me to it.  It is a strong introduction to the crew or reintroduction if you saw the series prior to the film as it sets up the characters and summarises them perfectly especially Mal and his relationship with each character.  It even shows the state of the ship, what it looks like and its condition - especially how much it is falling apart.  This is why we both love this part as it reminds us of the series we loved before it and it's a great scene which appears seamless - though it is technically two shots as Mal and Simon walk from the front half of the ship to the back (my geek savvy at work again) which I loved because it just kept focus on the story and the characters as if you were standing right there, making it a very clever shot in my opinion, something I expect from Joss Whedon.

Though I will be never satisfied with this film as the story could have made a great addition to the TV series if the team had been allowed to continue, the continuation and expansion of this universe in the film brought back happy memories of a series I love and gave more insight into the Verse.  The characters were great as if they've never left Serenity and are the main draw for me so on them alone, I would recommend this film as I find them to have a lot of depth and they hold a special place in my geeky brain.

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