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SERENITY
Okay, so, since I saw this movie (SERENITY, ahhhh) I've gone grocery shopping, walked a mile and a half in the dark in a not-so-nice city, and sat in my friend's room for an hour. It's been fully 3 hours. AND I'M STILL HYPER. Seriously, on cloud nine. You all MUST see this movie. It's AMAZING.
Oh dear, where to begin. I guess I'll start broad and talk about the plot. I thought the entire storyline of Miranda and the Reavers being products of the Alliance was fascinating, and very satisfactorily gave a depth and resonance to the existence of these deeply scary creatures. They're even more scary now, because the fog has been stripped away and we see what they really are, products of manipulation gone terribly, terribly wrong. It's wonderful that Mal managed to get the message out, because maybe things will actually change now. But man, what a great central plot device. Fantastic. Impossible to predict, really, and very shocking with all the dessicated bodies in that sterile, bright place.
I thought the bad guy was very, very effective. He was creepy, charismatic, and just... so subtle with his evilness. Or, not subtle, but not under any illusions. He accepted that he was evil, and wasn't shy of the fact. Quite refreshing.
Simon! My love for Simon now officially knows NO BOUNDS. When he got SHOT? I gasped and gripped my armrests so hard. I really thought he was gonna get killed off too! But backing up. He's lookin damn fine in this movie :D And he's so... assertive. When he punches Mal? Sweeeeet. Don't get me wrong, I love Mal, but seeing Simon stand up like that was just AWESOME. And the whole scene where he's reassuring River... so sweet, and tender, and beautiful. His love for her is pure and lovely. Definitely one of my favorite parts of the show. And of course, the comedy... "Am I talking to Miranda now?" *pause* *River gives him the "and they think I'M crazy?" look* TEEHEE. That look was brilliant.
Bringing me to... River! I know some people don't like River, but I *love* her. Summer Glau is absolutely mindblowing, seriously. Especially in this movie. She's just such a fascinating and heartbreaking character. "I never know what I'm saying..." *my heart breaks* I love that we find out why she was wanted back so badly by the Alliance. I love that she kicks HUGE, MAJOR ass. I love that she takes down a whole horde of Reavers and is standing at the end. I love that she saves everyone by diving through the doors, throwing back the med bag, and just... owning. I love the bar scene. I love her torturedness on Miranda. She is just brilliant, and so watchable.
That said, all the characters were excellent (with one exception, which I'll get to in a moment). I found Zoe very endearing in the film. I've never felt strongly one way or the other about her, but now I like her, a lot. Wash... *cries* I'll get to Wash in a moment *sniffle*. Mal... OH MAL. He was much, much darker in this movie. But I still find myself rooting for him, you know? I love Mal. I love, love, love Mal. Such a tortured soul. Inara was great... I hope she decides to stay on the ship. Book... I missed half of Book's cameo, I was in the bathroom, so I still have no idea what he contributed to the movie. When he died I was kinda like... aw, that sucks. Poor Mal. But yeah, still "meh" on Book. Oh Jayne! Still love Jayne. He adds such an awesome element to the dynamic. Wild, unpredictable, more than a little psychotic, but in the end... he checks the women's seatbelts. Aw. He's.... Jayne. I love Jayne.
Now, for the exception. Kaylee! I never thought I would say it, but I didn't like Kaylee in this movie. I found Jewel's acting very, very forced and overdone, like she felt emotions in a movie needed to be bigger, or something. When she's told Reavers are coming, her gasp of shock is rather fake. When she sees the dead body on Haven, again, fake horror. Everything she does is overdone and none of it felt real. I liked Simon/Kaylee on the show, I thought it was sweet, but I found it a bit stilted in the movie. Bah. I'm still a Simon/River gal.
And now... Wash. From the second he died, that's when the tears started flowing thick and fast. I cried for the rest of the movie. I haven't cried that hard in a long time, and maybe not ever for a movie. The death.... wow, Joss. It was masterfully done, for the ultimate shock value and emotional impact. He's just finished saying "I'm a leaf on the wind..." and WHAM. Just like that, it's over. So the audience is mid-laugh and suddenly - silence. Disbelief. Denial. Shock. Despair. I know that's what I went through. I kept expecting them to save him somehow... but of course, they didn't. Zoe's pain... someone's death is always made more powerful when someone who loves them is there to see them die. Often it is the reaction of those around a killed person that really get me, even more than the death itself. I *love* Wash. Who doesn't love Wash? And while I am intensely saddened that he was killed, I recognize that it was an incredible piece of writing and filmmaking, and really gave the movie a lot of it's punch right at the end. Without any deaths, it would have felt cheap. Joss certainly shows that this was not an easy event, by any means. Everyone gets hurt (except INARA!! Wtf? Does the girl have like a force bubble around her or something?). Zoe gets slashed in the back. Simon gets SHOT *whimper*. Jayne gets shot too. Kaylee gets hit by darts. Mal gets the shit kicked out of him, although of course he gets the upper hand. Well, River doesn't get hurt either, but she's River.
Side note: River saying to Simon, "You've always protected me. My turn." AW. Amazing. On the other hand, River beating up Simon? Eep! Her explanation later is so cute and ashamed, and.. aww. I love their interactions, all of them.
Let's see, what haven't I touched on... oh, the way Mal leads the Reaver army to the Alliance army, so they all start killing each other, is just a stroke of genius. A massacre in which they want everyone to die but themselves, and everyone involved is only too happy to oblige. A note of poignancy is added, though, when the assassin says "Many innocent people are dying up there right now." and Mal says something like "You have no idea." And he's referring to the Reavers, who truly were innocent people driven insane by a drug given them by the Alliance. Very sad, thinking about it that way. That's always the thing Joss has done best, really; made multidimensional evil forces. There's always some mitigating factor. come on, who doesn't love the Mayor from Buffy? Or Faith? Or Glory? The manifestations of evil he comes up with are always complex and fascinating.
By the way, the phrase "You can't stop the signal" totally makes sense now, and it's so cool! I love this icon even more now :D
In conclusion, I really need a shirt that says "JOSS IS GOD". I'm totally seeing this again next weekend. I've ALREADY converted a friend, just tonight, after seeing Serenity! He agreed to watch the episode Serenity with me and now he's HOOKED. Sweet. I have another friend who's a Buffy fan, so I plan to convert him later this week, and we'll all go see it. YAY.
I really, really, REALLY hope this did well at the box office.
GO SEE SERENITY!!!!!!!!
Oh dear, where to begin. I guess I'll start broad and talk about the plot. I thought the entire storyline of Miranda and the Reavers being products of the Alliance was fascinating, and very satisfactorily gave a depth and resonance to the existence of these deeply scary creatures. They're even more scary now, because the fog has been stripped away and we see what they really are, products of manipulation gone terribly, terribly wrong. It's wonderful that Mal managed to get the message out, because maybe things will actually change now. But man, what a great central plot device. Fantastic. Impossible to predict, really, and very shocking with all the dessicated bodies in that sterile, bright place.
I thought the bad guy was very, very effective. He was creepy, charismatic, and just... so subtle with his evilness. Or, not subtle, but not under any illusions. He accepted that he was evil, and wasn't shy of the fact. Quite refreshing.
Simon! My love for Simon now officially knows NO BOUNDS. When he got SHOT? I gasped and gripped my armrests so hard. I really thought he was gonna get killed off too! But backing up. He's lookin damn fine in this movie :D And he's so... assertive. When he punches Mal? Sweeeeet. Don't get me wrong, I love Mal, but seeing Simon stand up like that was just AWESOME. And the whole scene where he's reassuring River... so sweet, and tender, and beautiful. His love for her is pure and lovely. Definitely one of my favorite parts of the show. And of course, the comedy... "Am I talking to Miranda now?" *pause* *River gives him the "and they think I'M crazy?" look* TEEHEE. That look was brilliant.
Bringing me to... River! I know some people don't like River, but I *love* her. Summer Glau is absolutely mindblowing, seriously. Especially in this movie. She's just such a fascinating and heartbreaking character. "I never know what I'm saying..." *my heart breaks* I love that we find out why she was wanted back so badly by the Alliance. I love that she kicks HUGE, MAJOR ass. I love that she takes down a whole horde of Reavers and is standing at the end. I love that she saves everyone by diving through the doors, throwing back the med bag, and just... owning. I love the bar scene. I love her torturedness on Miranda. She is just brilliant, and so watchable.
That said, all the characters were excellent (with one exception, which I'll get to in a moment). I found Zoe very endearing in the film. I've never felt strongly one way or the other about her, but now I like her, a lot. Wash... *cries* I'll get to Wash in a moment *sniffle*. Mal... OH MAL. He was much, much darker in this movie. But I still find myself rooting for him, you know? I love Mal. I love, love, love Mal. Such a tortured soul. Inara was great... I hope she decides to stay on the ship. Book... I missed half of Book's cameo, I was in the bathroom, so I still have no idea what he contributed to the movie. When he died I was kinda like... aw, that sucks. Poor Mal. But yeah, still "meh" on Book. Oh Jayne! Still love Jayne. He adds such an awesome element to the dynamic. Wild, unpredictable, more than a little psychotic, but in the end... he checks the women's seatbelts. Aw. He's.... Jayne. I love Jayne.
Now, for the exception. Kaylee! I never thought I would say it, but I didn't like Kaylee in this movie. I found Jewel's acting very, very forced and overdone, like she felt emotions in a movie needed to be bigger, or something. When she's told Reavers are coming, her gasp of shock is rather fake. When she sees the dead body on Haven, again, fake horror. Everything she does is overdone and none of it felt real. I liked Simon/Kaylee on the show, I thought it was sweet, but I found it a bit stilted in the movie. Bah. I'm still a Simon/River gal.
And now... Wash. From the second he died, that's when the tears started flowing thick and fast. I cried for the rest of the movie. I haven't cried that hard in a long time, and maybe not ever for a movie. The death.... wow, Joss. It was masterfully done, for the ultimate shock value and emotional impact. He's just finished saying "I'm a leaf on the wind..." and WHAM. Just like that, it's over. So the audience is mid-laugh and suddenly - silence. Disbelief. Denial. Shock. Despair. I know that's what I went through. I kept expecting them to save him somehow... but of course, they didn't. Zoe's pain... someone's death is always made more powerful when someone who loves them is there to see them die. Often it is the reaction of those around a killed person that really get me, even more than the death itself. I *love* Wash. Who doesn't love Wash? And while I am intensely saddened that he was killed, I recognize that it was an incredible piece of writing and filmmaking, and really gave the movie a lot of it's punch right at the end. Without any deaths, it would have felt cheap. Joss certainly shows that this was not an easy event, by any means. Everyone gets hurt (except INARA!! Wtf? Does the girl have like a force bubble around her or something?). Zoe gets slashed in the back. Simon gets SHOT *whimper*. Jayne gets shot too. Kaylee gets hit by darts. Mal gets the shit kicked out of him, although of course he gets the upper hand. Well, River doesn't get hurt either, but she's River.
Side note: River saying to Simon, "You've always protected me. My turn." AW. Amazing. On the other hand, River beating up Simon? Eep! Her explanation later is so cute and ashamed, and.. aww. I love their interactions, all of them.
Let's see, what haven't I touched on... oh, the way Mal leads the Reaver army to the Alliance army, so they all start killing each other, is just a stroke of genius. A massacre in which they want everyone to die but themselves, and everyone involved is only too happy to oblige. A note of poignancy is added, though, when the assassin says "Many innocent people are dying up there right now." and Mal says something like "You have no idea." And he's referring to the Reavers, who truly were innocent people driven insane by a drug given them by the Alliance. Very sad, thinking about it that way. That's always the thing Joss has done best, really; made multidimensional evil forces. There's always some mitigating factor. come on, who doesn't love the Mayor from Buffy? Or Faith? Or Glory? The manifestations of evil he comes up with are always complex and fascinating.
By the way, the phrase "You can't stop the signal" totally makes sense now, and it's so cool! I love this icon even more now :D
In conclusion, I really need a shirt that says "JOSS IS GOD". I'm totally seeing this again next weekend. I've ALREADY converted a friend, just tonight, after seeing Serenity! He agreed to watch the episode Serenity with me and now he's HOOKED. Sweet. I have another friend who's a Buffy fan, so I plan to convert him later this week, and we'll all go see it. YAY.
I really, really, REALLY hope this did well at the box office.
GO SEE SERENITY!!!!!!!!