I want to go to the crappy planet where I'm a hero: My review of Serenity

PLUMB CRAZY: What’s happened to me? My entire life, I’ve never ever been this enamored of a film. It’s like catchin' a serious case of the Beatlemania. There’s way too long a wait for entertainment worthy of some serious fanaticism. Never fear: ‘Serenity’ has arrived.

HOT AS A WHOREHOUSE ON NICKEL NIGHT: Terrific dialogue rendered in a wickedly engaging lexical mixture of American West / Mandarin / semi-antiquated English. Hi-larious repartee. Strongly delineated characters that (gulp!) actually drive the plot rather than the innocuously interchangeable folk we see in today’s tv/film. Unique future worlds where the only aliens are the people who inhabit them. A frontier-style existence butting heads with the 26th century. And that’s just the beginning. ‘Serenity’ is a rodeo ride of adrenal action, bucking emotional intensity, jolting plot-twists (ok, enough metaphor.) Oh! I can’t forget the stirring score by David Newman. Haunting musical motives for the ship as well as for its captain, passengers and enigmatic foe. Did I mention absolutely perfect casting? Can’t imagine anyone else in these roles. (And yes, I’ve ordered multiple copies of Serenity – a most excellent Christmas gift for the deserving.)

POWERFUL GOOD: Once upon a time, my housemate forced me to view a single downloaded episode of this movie’s tv series precursor: ‘Firefly.’ Bang! I was hooked. This little bit of illegality paid off in spades for the network beancounters; I went on to purchase 4 dvd sets of the tv series. (One is going to my local library. Share the wealth!)

Having said how enthralled I became with the show, I’m way too close to these great characters and their world to ever step back and judge impartially. So I can’t really attest to the ‘standalone-ness’ of ‘Serenity’ for newbies.

However – some anecdotal evidence says it’s a great introduction to this wonderful world of writer/director Joss Whedon: I took an uninitiated friend to the Boston ‘Serenity’ opening. By her demand, I loaned the Firefly discs one by one. Within 5 days, she was phoning me, “Ok! I’m ready for the next disc!” “Uh… sorry, those 14 episodes– that’s all there is.” “WHAT? YOU’RE KIDDING! WHAT AM I GONNA DO?” (See Serenity again, naturally!) Now, with her own Firefly dvd set permanently occupying the player, she’s begun filming a documentary focusing on Firefly/Serenity's New England fans.

FINE AS CREAM GRAVY: One last thing – for me, frustratingly irresolute Anti-heroes and downright congenial Villains never fail to create that delectably mysterious ‘grey’ area so reflective of our actual lives. Thanks for the inspiration Joss!