[firefly] Serenity (spoilers behind the cut)

[wispfox]

Holy... shit.

That felt like 2, maybe 3 seasons all squished into two hours.

Also, it's one of those movies that make me hide and cringe a lot. Is good that I went with someone I could hide behind! Gah!

Y'know, I don't _LIKE_ movies that make me want to hide and cringe, dammit. Briefly, sure. But that was not an insignificant amount of cringe! Still all cringe-y...

I wanted to know more about Book's past! Not going to find _that_ out, now...

Also... kept thinking "I see dead people".

Sheesh. No explanation of why the hell Book wasn't on the ship anymore, either. Meh. At least Inara had some _forewarning_ for not being around anymore.

Dancing/fighting River was neat, though. And, since River's was one of the mysteries I most wanted to know more about, that curiosity was at least fed.

Also? Most abrupt and least dealt with death _ever_ - even for Joss. Poor Wash. We lost our comic relief, dammit! And trading one couple for another is _NOT_ a fair trade! (Also, hello sudden and abrupt change from courtship to sex! I always got the sense that he was _shy_ - even with regrets and almost death and such, it'd not have happened _THAT_ fast!)

On the plus side, brynndragon is good to hide behind and cringe in the general direction of. ;)

Comments

[gandalfgreyhame.livejournal.com]

Theories I've heard put forth (and apologies if this isn't the most coherent / elegantly phrased. I'm tired, hungry, and grumpy. :P ):

Book - he used to be an operative similar to the one that was hunting River in the movie. It'd explain how he knew about the weapons and other military-y stuff during Firefly, and how he knew belief was key.

Wash - Someone had to be killed off to make the end scenes work - because he dies, you believe that there's a significant chance they may not make it out of that one alive. Coincidentally, the flight scene immediately prior to his death was my favorite scene in the move.

[cos]

Book: Someone also pointed out that... who are the two older black male characters with devout belief? Also, that conversation he had with Mal, where he told Mal that they were going to send an operative and waxed expansively about how they work.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

that conversation he had with Mal, where he told Mal that they were going to send an operative and waxed expansively about how they work.

*nod* I caught this, and had thought that this was probably where he came from before (he knows too much about the alliance). But I want to see them investigating it, even though I have strong suspicions. Y'know?

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

Book - he used to be an operative similar to the one that was hunting River in the movie.

Yep - but I want to _see_ them find that out.

This is, mind you, pretty much what I was thinking.

Wash: I know. I know! But... there was no in-movie handling of it! There was barely a funeral (at least when compared with the funeral of the dead/not-dead guy in one of the episodes).

Indeed, I did wonder if anyone was going to live, after Simon got shot.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

We couldn't have time to handle Wash's death, because Zoe didn't have time. Boom. Dead. Go on now, there's a fight to be had.

She dealt with it privately, later.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

She dealt with it privately, later.

Yeah, I realize that's likely true.

As far as time; I was thinking perhaps at the funeral? Dunno.

[vvvexation.livejournal.com]

Coincidentally, the flight scene immediately prior to his death was my favorite scene in the move.

That made it even worse! I was in the middle of relishing it when WHAM. Ack!

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

Yes. Quite. Took me a few seconds to process what had happened, even.

[leiacat.livejournal.com]

There are a few things that are explained in the comic books (which are quite bad, but heck, they give you plot); among them is Book leaving, and why the Hands of Blue aren't still at it.

I think they'll get back to Book story eventually, if they keep going with stuff.

I do think the Simon/Kaylee thing made perfect sense as it went. No complaints from me there. (I do have complaints over Mal/Simon interactions, though. What happened to "you're my crew?"

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

comic books: Oh! Hmm... being bad makes me not want to read them (I'm not great with comic books in general, esp when black and white), but more plot does...

simon/kaylee: Hmm. Just seemed abrupt. May have simply been the fact that there was what felt like 2-3 seasons in 2 hours, though. Might be that _EVERYTHING_ felt a bit rushed.

Mal/simon: Indeed. Mal got all weird, as far as his interactions with his crew and being _way_ more "my rule is god" than normal.

But, then, Simon apparently kept a _lot_ to himself, as far as River goes. That shock could very easily explain Mal's reaction. What he doesn't know can, indeed, kill him. And the rest of the crew. Remember, River almost shot him.

[leiacat.livejournal.com]

I actually don't read comic books as a category. It's difficult for me. The fonts are always sub-optimal, the fact that text is scattered in blobs all over the page makes it hard to follow, I don't interact well with graphics, and on the whole, reading comics is _work_ as much as reading regular print is a pleasure.

In the case of Serenity, the three comics are sufficiently small and thin and not-dense that they read quickly even for me. (A couple of times I had to double back and make sure I caught something, but since there was little enough there, it wasn't _too_ much trouble.

The art is mediocre. There are at most a couple of good lines. Heck, even some of the plot is really disappointing. But if you can borrow someone's copies of the comics, the expenditure of time in reading them is small enough that I'd recommend doing so, because then you'll know the backstory.

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

actually don't read comic books as a category. It's difficult for me.

Ditto. Especially if they are black and white, because then I can't _see_ what's going on. My eyes don't parse black and white graphics very well.

In the case of Serenity, the three comics are sufficiently small and thin and not-dense that they read quickly even for me. (A couple of times I had to double back and make sure I caught something, but since there was little enough there, it wasn't _too_ much trouble.

Ah! Hmm. I may have to see if anyone I know has them, then. Thanks. :)

[drwex]

I'm too lazy to find the link right this second, but DJ wrote in his journal a very good analysis of this movie. Now that you've seen it you should go read what he wrote.

(And I'm also in the 'Book was an Operative once' camp.)

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

DJ wrote in his journal a very good analysis of this movie.

Agreed. Too bad it's friends locked, 'cause there are other people who I think should be able to read it.

Thanks for pointing me at it!