
Serenity, in case you don’t know, is the big-screen continuation of the short-lived sci-fi-Western Firefly.
I Netflixed the whole run of Firefly over the last month or so and I can heartily recommend it to anyone who likes a good Western. I was skeptical the first couple of times I had it recommended to me because I don’t like watching science fiction on tv. I think it looks hokey and if I think it looks hokey I get distracted by how dumb it looks no matter how well-written or well-acted. A tv show budget just isn’t big enough to make decent-looking aliens.
Firefly succeeds first, for me, because there are no aliens in dumb costumes to take me out of the story; everyone is basically descended from “Earth-That-Was”. Second, Firefly is different because it’s way more Western than it is science fiction. Yes, it’s set 500 years in the future and yes they have lasers and spaceships but the broad storyline could easily be set in Wyoming of the 1800′s. Setting it in outer space is a really smart little trick.
The show is funny and scary and well-built and you’ll enjoy it if you like that sort of thing. I, for one, am geeked to this movie. I may even go alone!

4 Responses to Serenity tonight!
ronan
October 1st, 2005 at 8:59 am
1) Did you go see it?
2) Do you have to have watched the shows to get the movie?
Ethan
October 1st, 2005 at 9:22 am
I’m going to see it this afternoon. I’ll let you know. My guess: it will bug you if you have a low threshold for disbelief. If you can just let it flow over you, I’ll bet you will be fine.
Michael
October 1st, 2005 at 4:51 pm
1) Didn’t see it. The 10:30 show was the only option and that’s way past my bedtime. I might try to slide out there one night this week.
2) I would hope that watching the show would make a difference in seeing the movie but I can’t imagine they would make a whole movie that only people who obsessed over a cancelled tv-show would understand.
Ethan
October 1st, 2005 at 5:08 pm
There’s a bit of an infobomb at the beginning, but I think you’ll be okay. A passable understanding of the world is all you need.