This weekend, I took a stab at the “Firefly” series via the movie Serenity which was delivered to me via HBO. I tried, I really did, but I bailed after about an hour.
I generally believe that even though I don’t watch much Sci-Fi, I probably would like most of it by nature of the fact that I am a scientist and (mostly) a nerd, and I can get on board with complex, scentifically sound ideas. So I figured this would be a good starting off point.
Let’s start here: I really like Nathan Fillion, I really do. I loved him in Two Guys, A Girl, and A Pizza Place (seriously) where he played Johnny. But whoever wrote his “accent,” you know, the one that pretends that this space captain who grew up on a farm has a hick twang, should be slapped around. Even Fillion couldn’t convincingly tell me we’re supposed to be believe that. Ditto for his female first mate, who threw in some extra verb-disagreement. I just couldn’t get past the strained dialogue.
Also, the plot left me clueless. I didn’t know what the plot was going in – I just knew it was based on Firefly. But the idea that I was supposed to understand that some of the creatures ate humans; the thought that the kung fu/gun combo seemed natural to all characters; the concept of the skinny girl as the sole engineer in the galumphing spaceship trying not to be so cliche, it just didn’t work.
This movie was made for fans of the show, not for the rest of us. So yeah, as Malcom Reynolds might say, “I reckon I willn’t be watchin’ this show.”
You are right, without watching the series first the movie does not mean much and the plot is too crowded, i.e. the director crams too much into it relying on familiarity of people who have seen the series.
This whole Firefly thing is mostly about Sci-Fi fun with a few interesting/intelligent moments. Worth watching at some point in life but nothing to fuss about. If it were allowed to run couple of more seasons, I doubt there would be a fun base!
Now come on, I always liked the hilarious language use in the series to be the most source of fun, some dialogues were so really funny I laughed for minutes in a row 🙂 Realistic or not, laughable or else, without the accents and the wording the whole thing would’ve lost a lot from its charm. Even today when I search for firefly quotes and I remember the scenes I just can’t stop smiling 🙂 Now somethin’ about that is just downright unsettlin’ :))
Adam, don’t give up. My husband is VERY difficult to like TV series and movies. And Firefly is actually one of his favorites ever (among House, Lost and Futurama).
But you need to start with the TV series, not the movie. Please try to get the series via Netflix or something, or by buying the DVD from Amazon (one of the best selling TV series on DVD ever). Then, watch the episodes from the beginning, and at the end check out the movie again, it will make more sense.
Firefly is kinda weird at the beginning, but from the moment you “get” their world, it draws you in.
The humor is great btw. It’s the best element on the series.
Joss Whedon is a derivative hack, it’s nice to see something other than the usual blind idolatry that he receives online.