Review

Let me begin by setting the stage a little, and telling you about me.  There's not much about me that's relevant to a movie review, but because Serenity originated from a television series, this preface is necessary: I don't watch a lot of television. 

Perhaps that doesn't get the point across.  The last television series I followed regularly was Babylon 5, which ended in the last century.  Cable news programs persisted until 2 years ago, but they also reached the end of my patience.  So, in order for me to see a television series, it needs to be available on DVD, and it needs to have generated enough interest for me to have noticed... and then it needs to be good enough to deserve a permanent copy. 

Firefly begin to show up on my radar screen by way of Claire Wolfe.  Yes, that Claire -- the "Is it time to shoot them yet?" one.  We're talking here about a television series, produced from the infamously-liberal mainsteam media, by a director who had just spent the past decade or so turning a blonde cheerleader into a vampire-slaying national obsession.  And his next project is winning praise from Claire Wolfe?

So I looked into it.  And it turns out the Firefly is not typical Hollywood fare at all.  The series followed the adventures of Malcomb Reynolds, a veteran of the Civil War between the Alliance and the Independent Worlds, who "retired" to a tiny cargo ship with an eccentric crew and a list of business opportunities that starts at mildly illegal and only gets worse from there.  Smuggling, theft, bank robbery, kidnapping... it's all in a day's work for Serenity and her crew.

If you're wondering how this series managed to survive... it didn't.  Firefly was canceled before the first season ended.  (If I had to guess, I'd say that the episode where the Serenity undertakes to defend the local house of ill repute from the local sheriff was the straw that broke the media executives' back).   But for the 11 episodes they made and broadcast, Firefly was something unique: a well-written, well-produced show with reasonably talented actors that celebrated independence, freedom, and liberty, characters who neither needed or wanted government.  There was nothing else like it.

But then the media released the series on DVDs.  Unlike broadcast, DVD sales are not dependent on scheduling, obscure timeslots, or competing shows on other networks. Firefly sold like gangbusters.  And the result was enough to convince the right people that maybe the show was hitting a chord somewhere.  And of course, the cancellation had left a gaping plot hole in the series just when fans were starting to figure out what was really going on with some of the more mysterious characters.

The result was Serenity: a full-length movie to pick up where the series left off and deliver some badly needed answers. 

Those answers pack one hell of a punch.

If you're a fan of the TV series, you need to see the movie.  Unlike most movie adaptations, it doesn't waste time telling the "introduction" story; it picks up where the series left off and finishes the established arc.  The feel is a very close match for the series, making up in polish and intensity what it looses in casual humor and witty reparte.  You'll be on familiar ground.

For those who haven't seen the TV series, you'll be happier watching it first.  Borrow it from a friend and watch a few episodes.  If you like what you see enough to finish out the series, you'll like the movie.  If not, you won't.  If you can't manage that, though, by all means see the movie anyway.  It stands alone quite well, and the additional background from the series is a bonus rather than a requirement.

For those who have been questioning whether they should wait for a confirmation email on the pre-screening of Serenity to bloggers: I just received my confirmation email.  Others have suggested that there may not be one.  I'm looking forward to it.  While Joss Whedon never quite hit the level of genius displayed by Babylon 5, he's been producing the best thing on television since the main arc of B5 ended.

If you're not familiar with the premise, here's the synopsis:

Joss Whedon, the Oscar® - and Emmy - nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a  small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family  -- squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

I'm not sure how well the things that I like about the series will carry over into the movie, but there's only one way to find out. 

The only thing that makes me nervous is the great big sword and axe prominently featured on some of the promotional graphics.  It looks too Buffyesque to me, however fond I am of swordplay in general; it simply doesn't fit the scenario.  I'll just have to wait and see how they handle that.

I like the graphic below better. 

Well, if you were planning on seeing Walking Tall because you are familiar with the true story upon which it is based -- that is, the Battle of Athens, Tenneessee -- then you are wasting your time and your money. It's not worth it for historical interest and it's certainly not worth it as a movie. It's not even worth a detailed trashing. Just don't go see it. I'll highlight the major points of suckage:

• Not even a little historical accuracy.
• It's all about... drugs!
• The "election" takes place in 30 seconds, offscreen; the only reference to it is an offhand comment.
• The mostly-invented plot sucks.
• The action sucks.
• The acting sucks.
• Gratuitous comments about "chopping up" or "melting down" guns.

I guess they were far, far, far too nervous about making a movie that depicted corrupt elections (in America! This century!), warfare and guns used in a positive manner, and attacked authority figures based on their corrupt behavior... so they had to make it about drugs. Hollywood has a very bad ear for this sort of drama, and I can't say I'm surprised by the results.

Written in the budding tradition of Unintended Consequences, Enemies Foreign and Domestic is a "gun novel". That is to say, it's protagonists are members of the "gun culture", independently-minded shooters, and the novel's antagonists are government agents of the BAFTE and legislators minded to ban firearms. As such, it's the sort of book that's likely to get you put on a government list -- but then, if you're reading it, you're probably already on that list.

The book opens with a "Stadium Massacre", where a single sniper kills thousands by firing long-range into a crowded stadium. The few people hit are far outweighed by the number of people who die in the panic, rushing for the exits and trampling each other. That one incident sparks a legislative ban on all semi-automatic rifles, while the protagonists are still trying to decipher the cryptic hints they have stumbled across -- hints that suggest the Stadium Massacre might have been a setup.

This novel is an expression of the fear that haunts gun owners in modern times; the knowledge that their hobby and sometimes their livelihood is something restricted more and more to governments alone. The tradition of American militiamen resisting tyranny is under attack from all sides, and seemingly with every highly-publicized massacre the screws tighten. Speculation that some agency, foreign or domestic, is actively behind all, or at least some, of these conveniently-timed incidents is on the border between conspiracy theories and legitimate speculation.

If you're a member of the "gun culture" and care about these issues, you'll like the book. The prose is servicable rather than sophisticated, and the characters sometimes suffer from having read the script rather than thinking things through on their own. While Unintended Consequences is a peculiar mix of history and fiction, Enemies Foreign and Domestic falls squarely into the fictional; there are none of the informative digressions that make Unintended Consequences accessible to people outside the gun culture who are not familiar with it.

It's a good read if you are in the target market. It's unlikely to convince anyone of anything they don't already believe, though.

So I've got an advertiser over there on the right, trying to interest people in an Unholy Quest. I can't say I'm very impressed by the cover design, but the plot has potential, and hey, they're advertising something here that fits the theme. So, I figure, why not read their sample chapters?

It's a fairly interesting premise: a Carribean island taken over by a Mormon offshoot of some kind, mixing soldier-of-fortune action with a bizarre religious angle -- almost a parody of ultra-conservative religious beliefs with a Mormon-polygamy angle of some sort. The website has some of the background material that the author is drawing on.

A while back, David Codrea at The War on Guns recommended the movie Vanishing Point.  I read the review and was somewhat skeptical.  How many really, truly anti-government movies are out there?  How many of them are told from the perspective of liberty, rather than a leftist dystopian fantasy?  Of those that are left, how many are intended to be taken seriously? I'll tell you. There is at least one. David, thank you very much for your recommendation.  I can't beat your review, and I won't try, but I second every word, and I add the most heartfelt endorsement possible.  It's not the best car chase film out there.  It doesn't have the high-gloss special effects that Hollywood is so fond of.  The script could use a little polish.  But none of that matters. If you love freedom, get this film.  You will not regret it.