That was my favorite line from Serenity, a film rich with (among other good things) potential favorite lines of dialog. And, no, that’s not a spoiler. Absent the context in which the line occurs, it’s virtually meaningless.

Serenity also boasts an excellent cast, nifty effects, fine acting, a generous helping of character-driven drama, an even bigger helping of Hideous-Mutant-Cannibal-driven suspense, a lot of big laughs, and — most importantly — two hours in an intriguing and engaging world.

I wasn’t sure that Whedon would be able to pull that last bit off.

I caught maybe as many as three episodes of Firefly on FOX when the series first ran three years ago. I liked the show, but frankly I never thought it made a heck of a lot of sense. Generally speaking, if I can’t follow what’s going on, the problem is with the subject matter. Not me.

However, in this case, it turns out the problem was neither with me (which wouldn’t have been posible, anyway — see above) nor with the subject matter. The problem was that the Supergenius Programming Wizards at FOX didn’t air the Firefly pilot until late into the show’s run. I’ve never seen the pilot, but I can’t help but imagine that it clears quite a few things up.

So going into the screening on Tuesday, I still saw the Firefly universe as a confusing and disjointed place. But not for long. I think what impressed me most about Serenity was the seamless manner in which just enough background was provided to make the story coherent. A few minutes in, we know who the good guys are, who the bad guys are, and broadly what motivates each. There are no plodding introductions or explanations — just plenty of action and unusually memorable dialog.

El Jefe Grande and I were able to score a pair of tickets to the free screening at the Denver Pavilions where we joined the ranks of Matt Moore, zombyboy, Dorkafork, Stephen Green, and other area bloggers. Mine was the only blogger name that somehow didn’t make it on the reservations list, but I was able to smooth-talk Mike and myself in, anyhow. (Okay, full disclosure. They took one look at me and concluded that I belonged among that bunch. Flattering for everybody!)

It was a fun evening.

If I have any complaint with the movie it would be that it goes a little too “Buffy” for my tastes in the end. Also, in the light of day a couple of days later, I question the plausibility of the setting. (Though it gave me no trouble while viewing.) What are they in, like one really huge solar system? How many habitable planets could you have orbiting one star? Actually, setting a space opera in a single solar system is not a bad idea — it certainly conquers the much greater implausibility of FTL travel which we have winked at in genre movies and TV for decades.

A Digression

Another observation about the setting (not in any wise a criticism of the movie): I think we have reached the point where all space operas have become what Stephen calls past-futures. This is an interesting development. We are nowehere near the time or level of technological development portrayed in Serenity, but we can already say with some confidence that that kind of world, or any facsimile other than a virtual digital world constructed largely for entertainment purposes, will never exist.

Space operas put modern humans (or even archetypes from the past, as in Serenity or the Star Wars movies) into spaceships where they can have all kinds of adventures, most of which are “spaced up” versions of adventures that explorers or frontierfolk or soldiers have had — mythically, anyhow — from time immemorial.

That’s all well and good, but for three little letters: GNR. Space opera images of the future rely on huge advances in propulsion and virtually nothing else. How many centuries ahead is Serenity set? Certainly far enough that we might expect that human lifespan would be a little longer; I’ve taken issue with TV shows set in the present for not thinking about that. The Alliance, the Reavers, Mr. Universe’s robot girlfriend — just about everything “futuristic” in Serenity — will, in a few years, be obsolete.

Again, this is not a criticism of the movie. Just a reflection on how quickly our visions of the future are being replaced.

In migrating the “Firefly” mythos to the big screen, writer-director Whedon executes a precarious but ultimately successful combination of manga and morality play, all in glorious cinematic live-action. Even more than in previous works (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Angel”, “Firefly”), Whedon’s characters don’t so much discuss, banter, or shout their lines as declaim them in tight, pithy, speech-balloon-sized sound bites and ensemble and crew make it work, frequently moving the audience to laugh, gasp, shriek or sigh out loud and just plain ‘get into’ the story.

At its best, Whedon’s prose rises to the nearly-Shakespearean, though it sometimes trips over itself becoming merely better than average for a science fiction movie. His heritage as a third-generation television writer shows a bit in the overall structure of the piece, but the triphammer pacing of the first two thirds of the movie compare favorably to the work of James Cameron, and, although the overall graphic style and composition of the cinematography owe more to Stan Lee and Jim Sternanko, there are elements of John Ford particularly in Whedon’s space shots.

This film is, obviously, a must-see for hardcore fans of the cancelled television series. For those who have seen a few episodes, either during the original run on FOX in 2002 or recently on the Sci-Fi channel, and liked what they saw or for fans of other Whedon franchises, this is also money well spent and probably an easy decision. For fans of the SF genre, action film buffs, and even open-minded horse-opera devotees, sufficient background is provided in the opening scenes of the movie and in the somewhat stereotypical roles of Serenity’s crew and the characters they interact with, that confusion should be minimized. A late arriving summer popcorn muncher for those who like action fantasy disguising a refreshingly thoughtful and thought-provoking set of characters and situations, “Serenity” is one of the rare films (even rarer in the era of big-budget, franchise driven SF) that works on many levels.

For those who feel that no movie review is complete without a slug-worthy grade or rating, I’ll give this film a solid B+ for “Firefly” fans. Surprisingly, for those new to the franchise, I’d rate it an A- as a standalone SF movie unencumbered by relation to prior events and character expectations.

(Note for fanboys: Be on the lookout for a scene reminiscent of Han Solo in the Bespin carbonite chamber. “Vest, No Vest, Vest”)

“Serenity”: B+ / A-

In migrating the “Firefly” mythos to the big screen, writer-director Whedon executes a precarious but ultimately successful combination of manga and morality play, all in glorious cinematic live-action. Even more than in previous works (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Angel”, “Firefly”), Whedon’s characters don’t so much discuss, banter, or shout their lines as declaim them in tight, pithy, speech-balloon-sized sound bites and ensemble and crew make it work, frequently moving the audience to laugh, gasp, shriek or sigh out loud and just plain ‘get into’ the story.

At its best, Whedon’s prose rises to the nearly-Shakespearean, though it sometimes trips over itself becoming merely better than average for a science fiction movie. His heritage as a third-generation television writer shows a bit in the overall structure of the piece, but the triphammer pacing of the first two thirds of the movie compare favorably to the work of James Cameron, and, although the overall graphic style and composition of the cinematography owe more to Stan Lee and Jim Sternanko, there are elements of John Ford particularly in Whedon’s space shots.

This film is, obviously, a must-see for hardcore fans of the cancelled television series. For those who have seen a few episodes, either during the original run on FOX in 2002 or recently on the Sci-Fi channel, and liked what they saw or for fans of other Whedon franchises, this is also money well spent and probably an easy decision. For fans of the SF genre, action film buffs, and even open-minded horse-opera devotees, sufficient background is provided in the opening scenes of the movie and in the somewhat stereotypical roles of Serenity’s crew and the characters they interact with, that confusion should be minimized. A late arriving summer popcorn muncher for those who like action fantasy disguising a refreshingly thoughtful and thought-provoking set of characters and situations, “Serenity” is one of the rare films (even rarer in the era of big-budget, franchise driven SF) that works on many levels.

For those who feel that no movie review is complete without a slug-worthy grade or rating, I’ll give this film a solid B+ for “Firefly” fans. Surprisingly, for those new to the franchise, I’d rate it an A- as a standalone SF movie unencumbered by relation to prior events and character expectations.

(Note for fanboys: Be on the lookout for a scene reminiscent of Han Solo in the Bespin carbonite chamber. “Vest, No Vest, Vest”)

“Serenity”: B+ / A-