Serenity: Spoiler Free Review

I had the chance to run up to Grand Rapids for an early screening of Serenity on Tuesday night. It was a cool experience. Some of us there were Bloggers, but most were people who got tickets from KLQ, a local rock station.

The movie is incredible. For those of us who know the show, there are some moments in the beginning that are pretty slow, because it explains things we already know. This is understandable, though, because it needs to appeal to a wider audience. I truly believe that this movie can. I think anyone can be interested in these characters and this universe. The action is intense, the jokes are funny, the effects are impressive. Summer Glau does a great job playing a bigger part in the movie than she ever was allowed in the show. Nathan Fillion had better start showing up in more movies; as Joss says, he's a Big Damn Movie Star.

Did you just say "My ass"?

Only a couple reviews to give since the last post.

Rounders was an interesting look at the world of illicit poker in New York. Scott points out in his blog that the movie was ahead of his time, and he's right. One has to wonder if this movie had anything to do with the incredible popularity of poker on television. The movie itself was really good. It is very well written, and the acting is impressive, with the exception of Matt Damon's girlfriend, played by Gretchen Mol. I was really impressed with Edward Norton. He's good at making you feel a certain way about his character. You're supposed to dislike him, and you do. I gave Rounders 4 stars.

May was another one of those movies I went in really wanting to like it. The description on Netflix made it seem like a really interesting story about a girl who's had a hard time in her life. Which it is for most of the movie. Then it finally started earning its place in the Horror genre, and became very ridiculous and cliched (and flinchingly gross). I think the movie could have been a lot better with a different last ten minutes. Angela Bettis was incredible playing the fatally introverted main character. Anna Faris was very over-the-top; I was hoping for more from her. Jeremy Sisto of Six Feet Under fame was pretty good though. I gave May 2 stars.

I love watching TV series on DVD. Wonderfalls was a show I'd only heard about because Tim Minear was the executive producer. Minear was a writer on dozens of Angel episodes and was an Executive Producer and writer on Firefly. Despite the Joss Whedon influence, I didn't pay the show any heed. The show centers around a girl named Jaye, who puts her philosophy degree to good use at a souvenir shop in her home town of Niagara Falls. Toy animals begin to talk to her, coercing her into performing good deeds. The writing is really good, and Caroline Dhavernas (copy and paste for the win) does a great job making Jaye snarky yet sensitive. Sadly, this show got the Fox special treatment, and was cancelled after 12 episodes. I gave it 5 stars on Netflix.

Serenity is coming!

Only two more weeks until the Big Damn Movie arrives. I can't wait. Feel free to follow the links below:

Official Site
The Browncoats
Buy the Firefly TV Series DVDs

Edit 9-24-2005: A synopsis of Serenity for the unitiated:
Joss Whedon, the Oscar® - and Emmy - nominated writer/director responsible for the worldwide television phenomena of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE, ANGEL and FIREFLY, now applies his trademark compassion and wit to a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future in his feature film directorial debut, Serenity. The film centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family –squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal.

No Time for Love, Dr. Jones!

The Good Girl was pretty interesting. This is definitely the best acting that Jennifer Aniston has ever done. I was disappointed with Jake Gyllenhaal, who basically played his character from Donnie Darko, only one-dimensional. Zooey Deschanel cracked me up in her supporting role. I gave it 3 stars on Netflix.

Matrix: Revolutions was simply terrible. The fighting was overblown and boring at this point. The story could have been covered in about 15 minutes. When Trinity was dying, I just wanted to scream "Just die already!" at the television. I believe April said afterwards that the original movie was tarnished because this movie sucked so bad. I'm on board with that statement. I gave it 2 stars on Netflix.

I thought I would like Adaptation. I had to defend Nicholas Cage against Scott's vehement attacks on Cage's acting (I claimed that The Rock and Gone in 60 Seconds were good Cage movies, he claimed those movies were about Connery and cars, respectively). It turns out my defense would have been better spent elsewhere. I really disliked this movie. Cage's Kauffman made neurosis completely unfunny, and then having to tolerate Cage playing Kauffman's dopey brother was even worse. At least Tilda Swinton and Maggie Gyllenhaal were good. I gave Adaptation 2 stars.

Napoleon Dynamite. It's hard to talk about this movie. It was funny. Awkward. Bizarre. Witty. Uncomfortable. Very good. I gave it 4 stars. Gosh!

Kung Fu Hustle was pretty impressive. The fighting was as good as you would expect, with the addition of pretty good effects. Surprisingly, the story managed to be more than just an excuse for fighting. It was enough to hold the movie together. I gave Kung Fu Hustle 4 stars.

It only took me 13 years to see A Few Good Men. It's surprisingly not dated, except for the hair styles of both Cruise and Moore. I was genuinely interested in the fate of the two accused, and there were enough twists to make it less predictable. I gave it 4 stars.