NP: Soundgarden, Badmotorfinger

Saw preview of Serenity last night. An on-screen visit from writer and director Joss Whedon before the movie started pointed out how it's not every day that a quickly-cancelled TV show becomes a major motion picture. It's also not every day you see a movie with such a rabid fanbase for the creator of the pic, rather than, say, an actor. Most fans of the auteur are, I think, more subdued.

Coming so closely on the heels of seeing Revenge of the Sith, the differences couldn't be more obvious. It's almost not fair to compare dialog. Whedon is pretty much the best in the business when it comes to snappy, witty banter, and it's almost transcendent the way he can use it to still serve and advance the plot.

It is fair to compare the action and special effects scenes, and Joss on a tight budget did a heck of a job, particularly ship-to-ship combat stuff. One quibble, and I'm noticing this more and more these days, is that sound effects for swordplay in movies and tv are getting absolutely ridiculous. Somebody needs to smack around some foley artists or something, because I'm tired of that same "shiiing" noise all the time.

The plot was pretty compelling, even if it was pretty familiar. Band of rogues has something the authorities, who may not have the purest of intentions, want and will stop at nothing to get, and said band has to both not get caught and figure out why they're being chased in the first place.

What's problematic about a movie like this is your basis of comparison. Does it hold up to the best of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel? Is Whedon's style and sensibility consistent throughout all of his work? Does this fit neatly and perfectly in the context of his universe? Probably not. But compared to other major sci-fi releases, this is pretty damn excellent, and for someone who doesn't have much in the way of big-screen directing credits, it could mark an auspicious beginning to Whedon's movie career. The best of part of his work is that he doesn't coddle his audience, doesn't really dumb down his characters or his plot in the tradeoff of broad appeal versus narrative coherence.

What will be curious to watch is whether or not that tradeoff ends up as a hindrance at the box office. This movie certainly appealed to me, but I'm not exactly mainstream.