Mark Watches ‘Serenity’: Open Post

In the interest of collecting my thoughts in a more organized manner that’s easier to read than trying to search for my comments in our super awesome liveblog, I thought it best to allow us all to drop them here.

Because it would be seriously too difficult to run through things in a chronological manner like I usually do (and because you don’t need a plot summary of the movie YOU JUST WATCHED), LET’S BRING BACK LISTS fuck yeah.

So….Serenity!

  • This is one of the better expositions I’ve seen in a movie, and certainly for a movie dealing with a television show. I thought it introduced the plot to strangers while still being intelligent and valuable to all of us who had seen the show; the sudden shift to River’s point of view was an even greater insight into her mind. I liked it because it was Whedon’s attempt to make sure we sympathized with what she was going through by showing us what her mind was like.
  • The fact that Whedon never made the Alliance an entirely evil entity is also appreciated. River’s flashback scene at the beginning showed that there were people who meant well and that the Alliance certainly provided a meaningful life for some people under their rule. The key to understanding the main conflict is in this opening scene: there are people who don’t want to be a part of the Alliance, and they’ve been given no choice otherwise.
  • Watching Simon free River was so wonderful. Dude’s a badass and sometimes we forget that.
  • The Operative, played brilliantly by Chiwetel Ejiofor, is very, very creepy. Early is worse for me, but this is also another man convinced of his moral standing and the pragmatism that comes from it.
  • It was bittersweet to watch Whedon cycle through his introduction to all the characters we’d come to love. I knew that this would be over soon. noooooooooooooo
  • I was impressed with how seamless this segued from the final episode, only really skipping over two larger stories: What Inara and Book had each been up to.
  • As soon as the Reavers showed up during the raid, I secretly hoped we’d see more of them in this movie. I was very happy we did.
  • SERIOUSLY, FUCK THE REAVERS. Oh my god, they are so awful.
  • Could we expect an extension of Firefly without a scene of moral ambiguity? Watching Mal shove that man off the ship and then shooting him as the Reavers took him was difficult to watch and even worse when Zoe confronted him about. Shooting him was an act of mercy, but where does Mal draw the line about saving another life? It builds on the idea that the only people that truly matter to him are his crew.  “Maybe that’s why we lost,” says Zoe. Ouch.
  • Which…that does explain his very angry fight with Simon immediately after this. Simon is mad that Mal used River and you know what? I have to agree with him that while River did save their lives, Mal is using her to his own ends. It’s creepy and kind of rude how practical he is with her at this point in the story.
  • Fanty and Mingo are so scummy. I love it.
  • RIVER’S TRANSFORMATION SCENE. There were plenty of hints towards her identity as an actual weapon in the run of the show, but after that commercial triggers a memory of Miranda and she turns into THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING MACHINE. Holy shit. Also, I found it funny she kicked Jayne’s ass, since he sort of deserved that after his actions in “Ariel.”
  • I know it’s not funny, but the fact that Simon has a safe word for his sister is…well, it made me laugh. I can’t help it.
  • Mr. Universe is awesome. His female sexbot? Not so awesome. Really, really creepy, actually.
  • UGH SEEING INARA HURT. I like her so, so, so much. But I will say that the scene with the entire crew watching her and Mal talk was FANTASTIC. There aren’t many moments where they’re all together anymore, so I appreciated seeing it.
  • Mal and Zoe knew it was trap right off the bat. A+++++ forever.
  • I was sort of indifferent to The Operative until the battle in Inara’s place. Dude, you are fucked up. No thank you.
  • So we find out Miranda is a planet at the edge of the system. At first, I thought they’d discover it was actually Earth-That-Was, but oh god, it was so much worse.
  • That worse? That the Operative decided to go after every hiding place Serenity was known to frequent, which included Haven, where Book was hiding. When he died, I knew it was Whedon’s nod to us: Shit is so fucking real right now and you are not goddamn prepared for what I am about to do.
  • Mal’s first Reavers plan is TOTALLY FUCKED. Hey, let’s strap Book and a bunch of bodies to the hull of our ship and pretend to be Reavers. THAT’S TOTALLY WHAT BOOK WOULD HAVE WANTED. I mean, it does work, but…wow.
  • The Miranda story. Jesus fucking christ, this is the most important scene to the entire series. It re-contextualizes EVERY episode. We knew they wanted River because she was a weapon, but that hint in the very beginning of the movie came true: River had the ability to read the secrets hidden in the minds of “key members of Parliament.” That secret? The Alliance tested a chemical that sought to eliminate aggression. It worked, to the point that it killed every person on Miranda because they simply lost the will to live. All of them except a small percentage, who had the opposite reaction: they became so violent, they became the Reavers.
  • NO. SERIOUSLY. THE REAVERS WERE MADE BY THE ALLIANCE. Brain. Explode.
  • I thought Mal was walking into a trap unknowingly when he contacted Mr. universe about spreading the message to the entire ‘Verse, but his SECOND Reavers plan was even more brilliant than the first: trick the Reavers into following them through space and dropping them right on top of the Alliance ships. FUCK YEAH.
  • And just when you think everything is fine….Wash. Oh my god, Wash. You know, I expected them to return to Serenity afterwards and find out he was all right, but no. Whedon doesn’t work that way. They took a risk and Wash was the casualty. Seriously one of the most depressing scenes, especially when they try to avoid locking the doors and Zoe shouts, “He ain’t comin’ back!” Endless. Tears.
  • No, wait, not endless tears. Simon is shot, badly. WHEDON PLEASE STOP THIS IT HURTS TO WATCH.
  • Oh wait, what’s that? River turns into the most epic badass of all time? Her fight against the Reavers is SO AMAZING. Oh man.
  • There is a huge difference between The Operative and Early: Early would never have given up his mission, but The Operative, after observing the Miranda feed, realizes he’s been fighting on the wrong side the entire time.
  • The small graveyard scene is so fucking heartbreaking. His dinosaurs. 🙁 🙁 🙁 Though, I thought Simon had died? But no, he’s standing right there!
  • There’s a beautiful symmetry in River becoming the new pilot and for Mal’s newfound respect for her.
  • “What was that?”

This isn’t quite over yet, for the record. I ordered all three of the graphic novels that span the gap between the TV series and the movie. In the next week or so, I’ll put one-off reviews of each one up on Mark Reads. And THEN we will be done and we can all cry forever.

So now I turn things over to all of you. What did you think of Serenity? Likes and dislikes? Best quotes? I didn’t include very many quotes because JESUS CHRIST THERE WERE SO MANY GOOD ONES. Also, MOAR GIFS OF THE MOVIE.

Your turn!

About Mark Oshiro

Perpetually unprepared since '09.
This entry was posted in Firefly, Serenity and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

434 Responses to Mark Watches ‘Serenity’: Open Post

  1. Pingback: Black Friday 2011

  2. Pingback: Sweaters On Sale

  3. Pingback: poly mva

  4. Pingback: Video Game Store

  5. Pingback: corporate christmas cards

  6. Pingback: microwave ovens

  7. Pingback: July 4th Deals

  8. Pingback: club penguin

  9. Pingback: natural hair color

  10. Pingback: The Bathroom Scales

  11. Pingback: Remove Tonsil Stones at Home

  12. Pingback: Sports Tickets

  13. Pingback: Sober House

  14. Pingback: The Microwave Ovens

  15. Pingback: Frye Paige

  16. Pingback: Snow Cone Syrup

  17. Pingback: Dog Bite Lawsuits

  18. Pingback: Thewaterkettle

  19. Pingback: The natural haircolor

  20. Pingback: Buy Kratom

  21. Pingback: Acne Skin Care Product

  22. Pingback: What Is Adoption

  23. Pingback: Gold Party

  24. Pingback: Air Conditioning Filters

  25. Pingback: tracking pay per click

  26. Pingback: Acai Berry scams

  27. Pingback: Villa Ile Maurice

  28. Pingback: Buy Salvia

  29. Pingback: Blu Ray Release Dates

  30. Pingback: Zune phone

  31. Pingback: Mauritius Villas

  32. Pingback: Location Ile Maurice

  33. Pingback: Search engine optimization

  34. Pingback: College Tutoring

  35. Pingback: Location Villa Ile Maurice

  36. Pingback: Asthma Homeopathy

  37. Pingback: search engine placement service

  38. Pingback: Buy Spanx

  39. Pingback: Online Paralegal Courses

  40. Pingback: seo consultant

  41. Pingback: Pool Supply Coupons

  42. Pingback: solar panels

  43. Pingback: Wooden Dog House

  44. bear machi says:

    I also planing on makeing my blog that cool…

  45. Pingback: Minor Sex Education

  46. Pingback: ways to make money online

  47. Pingback: hotels in benidorm

  48. Pingback: cheap holidays

  49. Pingback: how to make money from the internet

  50. Pingback: Associate Degrees Online

  51. Pingback: Fathers Day Gifts

  52. donald rami says:

    Starting each and every day care business offers a great entrepreneurial opportunity if you like children. It can be the great thing you could do to make a living. The scale vary coming from a small in home based operation over a shoe string budget towards a large commercial center. Its up to you to choose the course of your enterprise – either deciding to remain small by creating work only reserved for yourself or growing into an enterprise with large revenue.

  53. ari leonard says:

    Something that does be prominent using the New Balance 993 could be the springy effect that this has. Every stride feels like a spread of your energy where you put the pressure. It starts from your heel, goes to the midsole and ultimately ends up in the forefoot the spot where you get great responsiveness

  54. Pingback: cheap holidays

  55. Pingback: roofing contractors sacramento

  56. You made some decent points there. I regarded on the web for the difficulty and found most individuals will associate with together with your website.

  57. Pingback: roofing los angeles

  58. Pingback: roofing company austin

  59. Pingback: replacement windows austin

  60. Pingback: Online Dating Sites

  61. Pingback: Location Ile Maurice

  62. Pingback: roofers austin

  63. Pingback: Life Insurance Rates

  64. Pingback: Self Catering Mauritius

  65. Pingback: Cyber Monday

  66. Pingback: marietta ga

  67. Pingback: Buy Stair Lifts

  68. Pingback: Book A Trip

  69. Pingback: property and casualty insurance company

  70. Pingback: Cheap Car Insurance Quotes Online

  71. Pingback: Cheap Personal Secured Loans

  72. Pingback: http://www.xfruits.com/network/Economics/

  73. tiqfivdy says:

    I felt her stomach and climb off of herthigh high and cup her hilary duff hot neck.

  74. Pingback: Best Diet Plan

  75. Pingback: Bath Salts

  76. Pingback: Married Dating

  77. Pingback: click here

  78. Pingback: Keurig Brewer

  79. Pingback: וילונות

  80. Pingback: Schwinn 240 recumbent exercise bike

  81. Pingback: Immobilienmakler Bad Homburg

  82. Pingback: Discount Lanyards

  83. Pingback: Marriage Problems Help

  84. Pingback: Atlanta Falcons Tickets

  85. Pingback: Help relationship

  86. Pingback: עבירות מס

  87. Pingback: Sex Chat

  88. Pingback: Lem 10 meat grinder

  89. Pingback: Television Reviews

  90. Pingback: Lethbridge Tutoring

  91. Pingback: Bungalow Ile Maurice

  92. Pingback: google adwords

  93. Pingback: HTC Desire Review

  94. Pingback: Free Magazine Subscription

  95. Pingback: Home Depot coupons

  96. Pingback: Free Magazine Subscription

  97. Pingback: 2nd Hand Lawn Mowers For Sale

  98. Pingback: pond lights

  99. Pingback: tiella track lighting

Comments are closed.