Movies you didn't see in the theater

This is Science Fiction

by Sean P. Dailey

Serenity (2005)
Written and directed by Joss Whedon
Rated PG-13 (sequences of intense violence and action, and some sexual references)

"I'm going to grant your greatest
wish. I'm going to show you a world without sin."

So says Captain Malcolm (Mal)Reynolds to his adversary, the deadly Operative, near the end of Serenity, one of the finest (and most unjustly overlooked) movies of 2005, and one of the greatest science fiction movies of all time.

I can say that without reservation. Serenity does what all good science fiction ought to, but so seldom does anymore: ask "What if?" in a provocative and interesting way, holding up a mirror to its audience in the process, while never getting preachy.

Mal carries all the bitterness you'd expect from a man who was on the losing side of a civil war, that also cost him his faith.

Serenity does more than that, however. It never ceases to surprise, delighting in plot twists that take the story in unexpected directions. It revels in challenging our assumptions. At first it appears to be a competent but otherwise ordinary science fiction adventure: good guys vs. bad guys, chases, shoot-outs, and so on. But as it unfolds Serenity could just as easily be a western as a sci-fi film; Civil War buffs will especially identify with the protagonists. Finally, by the movie's end what we have is nothing short of an eloquent and biting commentary on the folly of trying to make a heaven on earth.

We ought to know all about that, having just escaped the bloodiest century in human history. The history of the 20th century is the history of attempts to perfect man, to make heavens on earth. Instead we got high body counts and folks far worse off than they had been before. The Operative is a student of history, but he also is a true believer, and in his zeal to create a "world without sin" he seems to have overlooked the 20th century.

Serenity takes place roughly five hundred years in the future. The Operative serves the Parliament, the ruling body of the Alliance, an authoritative, centralized regime that governs a coalition of planets in a solar system that has been colonized by Earth dwellers. Earth, overcrowded, has been abandoned in favor of this new solar system, which is found to be teeming with "dozens of planets and hundreds of moons." The inner planets make up the Alliance, the hub of technology, learning, and culture. There also once was a loose confederation of outer planets, but they were brought under Alliance control following a brutal civil war. Mal, a "Browncoat" who fought for the losing side, heads a small band of smugglers on cargo ship called the Serenity. They'll move any cargo or pull any job that promises decent pay, and if that also means trouble for the Alliance, all the better.

Also on board the Serenity are River Tam (Summer Glau), a psychic who the Alliance hoped to use as a military weapon, and her brother Simon (Sean Maher), who busted her out of a top secret research facility where she'd been held as a test subject for most of her life. Prior to her escape, River inadvertently learned some highly classified military secrets. Because of that, the Alliance wants her back. Simon is just as determined to keep her hidden.

Catch a Firefly

by Sean P. Dailey

If you've seen Serenity and want to know more about the characters and the movie's background, then you need to go out and buy or rent Firefly: The Complete Series.

Firefly debuted on Fox in 2002 and was cancelled midway through its first (and only) season. Three episodes never even aired, and the pilot, which sets the stage for what comes later, wasn't broadcast until late in the season. The DVD contains all fourteen episodes in their proper order, including the three that never aired.

Serenity begins with a flashback that shows Simon busting his sister River from the research facility where she'd been held captive. Later, someone mentions that Simon and his sister River have been aboard the ship for eight months. Firefly covers those eight months.

The pilot itself begins with the climax of the Battle of Serenity Valley, the defining event in Malcolm (Mal) Reynolds' life. Just when victory seems certain for his side, their leaders sue for peace, surrendering to the Alliance. Mal never quite shakes his bitterness over that betrayal: though he kisses a crucifix at the beginning of the episode, the loss to the Alliance shatters his faith. Whether he gets it back I won't reveal.

The TV episodes aren't as polished as the movie, but that's ok. Watching it, you get the sense that creator Joss Whedon was trying to flesh out the characters. The show remains great fun, and combining the genres of western and science fiction makes it unique among science fiction series (and westerns as well).

In short if you liked Serenity, then I highly recommend you acquire Firefly.

Serenity is the continuation of the TV series Firefly, also produced by Joss Whedon and which ran on Fox in 2002 (see sidebar). Fox treated the series shabbily, showing episodes out of order and then canceling it midseason. Considering Whedon's previous success with such series as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, you'd think the network would have given him the benefit of the doubt. What happened next ought to go down in the annals of Distributist history. Firefly had a small fan base, but a loyal one. They rallied and got Universal Studios to back a movie. Serenity is the result.

Firefly, part science fiction, part western, had a certain playfulness to it, and Whedon brings that spirit to Serenity. Indeed, it reflects in spades the one essential ingredient of any successful artistic endeavor: the joy of creation. Throughout, it is pure fun, refusing to be sunk by the weight of its own gravity. It includes a hovercraft chase for no other reason than because, in a movie like this, you just got to have a hovercraft chase. When a piece of the ship's hull falls off during reentry, Mal tells the crew over the intercom, "This is your captain speaking; we may experience some slight turbulence, and then explode."

The cast, mostly unknowns, have an easy chemistry: Wash (Alan Tudyk) is the pilot. His wife Zoë (Gina Torrez) served with Mal in the civil war and is the ship's second in command. Jayne (Adam Baldwin) is handy with just about any firearm or explosive imaginable, and Kaylee (Jewel Staite) is the ship's engineer. Mal (Nathan Fillion) is the enigmatic one. He's lighthearted, but darkness hangs over him. He shoots three unarmed men during the course of the movie. He carries all the bitterness you'd expect from a man who was on the losing side of a civil war, that also cost him his faith.

Yes, I'm talking about Christianity, and the conscience of both the movie and the TV series is a character named Shepherd Book (Ron Glass), a Christian cleric or priest. His exact denomination is never made clear, but it is revealed he once lived in a monastery and has re-entered the world to evangelize. He finds Mal a particularly tough nut to crack, but keeps at him anyway. Mal, wallowing in bitterness, only half listens.

But then he sees what lengths the Alliance will go to to get River back, and next comes face-to-face with the dread of its failed attempt to create a world without sin—a heaven on earth. By the movie's climax, when Mal could kill the Operative, he does something far more profound instead. It's a breathtaking moment that I will not spoil.

If Serenity had just its story, that would be enough. But it has more. It is particularly well made for what Whedon called a "low budget movie" in the DVD special features. Cinematographer Jack Green frames each shot with an artist's eye, particularly with respect to lighting. Green is not afraid to shroud a character in almost total darkness and later bathe him in blinding light. Some of my favorite shots are those of the Serenity, as when she is captured in full glory as she soars through a planet's atmosphere and breaks free into space. The score by David Newman never hits a false note. The acting, particularly the lithe Glau in the difficult role of River, is first rate.

Great movies, whatever their genre, should not only entertain us, but also tell us a little bit about ourselves. Serenity does that, but with this added benefit: it is the antidote for the muddle that the Star Wars series became and the goo-goo utopianism of Star Trek. Indeed, it shows just what horrors misguided utopianism can lead to.

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