So we just got back from the advance screening of Serenity. Yes, I was annoyed by some of the treatment by the staff, yes the long line and lack of communication was annoying, but the movie made up for it. No, actually, the first 30 seconds of the movie made up for it. Read on for a spoiler-free review of the movie.
<edit at 7:35am on 9/28>
It really bugs me that Universal had to be so ham-handed in their whole invitation scheme. It seems that as a result every positive review that I've seen that isn't in mainstream press is being seen as astroturfing. So to be clear, I really did enjoy the movie as much as it sounds like I did, it's just a shame that Universal has pulled the type of shennanigans that they did. But anyway...
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First, while it helps fill out the background a bit, you need not be a die-hard fan of the TV series Firefly to appreciate the movie. The movie does fit quite neatly in the canon, but it stands well alone too. There's plenty in the film to hold the die hard fans, and with the amount of amazing writing, well executed fight scenes, and romantic subplot I'd be hard pressed to find a Joss Whedon fan or a testosterone-head or a stereotypical female movie-goer who could not find something to love about this movie. I can honestly say that I laughed, I cried, and for the first time in a very long time I actually found myself on the edge of my seat in breathless anticipation.
If you've seen the trailer, congratulations, you've seen the bulk of the first 10 minutes of the movie chopped and rearranged in such a way as to make you have no idea what the film was about. That was a relief. I can't stand when a trailer tells you the whole film, and wastes all the good lines. Serenity's trailer, while rich in the good lines did not even begin to tap-out what's there.
Next up, the story itself. The pacing was well timed, with only one moment when I actually though to check my watch, and that was for about 2 minutes, 20 minutes in. Fight choreography was well done, and while I'm sure there are thousands of nit-pickers tearing into each kick like a reaver into a 5 year-old child, I'm not one. Yes, River (Summer Glau) does have some Buffy-like moments, and yes, I'm ok with that. The absence of Book from the trailer had me worried, but he's there too, and as enigmatic as ever. Kaylee (Jewel Staite) is as adorable and geeky as ever. The rest of the cast? No disappointments there either. If you want to watch only one episode of Firefly beforehand, watch Serenity (the episode) so you get an idea of how Malcolm ticks.
Let's see, what disappointed me... The sound effects. Or rather that they did add a few sound effects to the space sequences. Not a lot, no glaring engine noise, but enough to remind me that this isn't the TV show, with the eye (or ear, rather) for detail, like the absence of sound in space). Nope, this is the Hollywood movie with the sound effects being produced to cater to what the studio expects the audience wants to hear. We're not all idiots, you know. Also, I missed the horses. You see, the TV show had this thing going for horses, not so much in Serenity. It's less "sci-fi space western" as it is "post-apocalyptic us vs. The Man".
So briefly stated...
GO
SEE
THIS
MOVIE.
You'll regret it if you don't. Hell, I saw it for free and I'm planning on paying to go see it again. March of the Penguins didn't even get that.
As for the preview experience itself, well that was annoying. All the pre-registration was really for nothing, and then they had a section marked reserved in the theater. Naturally, I and several others who had pre-registered sat here. We were told by a representative of Universal that that section was for, "reviewers. No, not you blog-people. Real reviewers, real press." well, screw you. You invite us and then tell us we're not good enough? The studio wants to know what I think, now they do. Thanks for letting Joss make a great movie, it's a shame you had to be pricks about it.
2 comments:
You know, I completely assumed, so much so that I didn't even realize it was an assumption, that for these screenings the bloggers who qualified would be able to sit in the reserved area (and as a side benefit, chat with other bloggers about this novel way of doing things). They could just have pointed you to where free passes were available and saved the fuss, for all the good it did *you*, and it would have built less resentment for *them*. Yeesh.
Yeah, boneheaded on their part. They ask us to jump through all these registration hoops when they fully intended to give out free passes at the door. What was particularly irksome was that those of us who had registered ended up waiting in a second, slower line and when they opened the doors those who had just shown up swarmed in to the "good" seats adn those who had registered had to slowly file in and got stuck sitting either in the very front, the very back, or along the sides. In other words the "not as good seats". Really, why?
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