(no subject)

[terrie]

Loved it. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Made myself a Blue Sun shirt to wear to the show, 'cause I'm a big nerd. Got compliments, including one guy who was reall impressed I did it myself.

Hmmm, favorite parts? Hard to say. I loved most of it. Though, Sean Maher with his shirt off is always worth mentioned. Kaylee is a lucky, lucky girl to finally get Simon. Loved the moment were she was all "Hey, if I finally get sex, I'm gonna live."

I was spoiled that someone was going to die, but I didn't know who. So once Book bought it, I figured "Oh, there we go." Nope. Not in the slighest. *shudder* Even worse than Wash's death for me was Zoe's response to it. I mean, she's as hard as nails and no nonsense. Look at her in War Stories. But his death broke something in her, I think. Joss refuses to acknowledge the unspoken contract with his viewers that certain characters are not supposed to die. Actually, this is a good thing. We, as viewers, need a shakeup on a regular basis.

Some people have said that this was about Mal and River. But I don't think it's about River at all. I mean, look at all the critical scenes with the Operative. All of them were with Mal. Heck, I don't think River was ever in the same room with him. I think River was something of a McGuffin in the film. For those who don't know, a McGuffin is "a device or plot element that catches the viewer’s attention or drives the plot. It is generally something that every character is concerned with." It comes from Hitchcock films. It drives the plot, but it's not what the story is about. The real story here isn't River. It's what happens with Mal. He goes from "you are not my crew" with the Tams, to considering Book and Inara part of his crew, even though they aren't on the hsip anymore, to seeing that he has a connection to the whole solar system of people. If Firefly and Serenity are about any one person, they are about Mal and his journey of belief.

Now, that aside, everyone was wonderful in this. Summer Glau was, as always, perfect. Morena Baccarin is wonderful with her expression, though the script gave her very little to do (and wasn't that a disappointment). Adam Baldwin has become my archtypical thug, and whenever I see him in a different role, he totally throws me. Loved the setup for Mr. Universe, with his bot wife. You think he's got some model lounging around in the background, until he comments. Heee. And did I mention Sean Maher took his shirt off?

Comments

[kittydesade.livejournal.com]

MUH. I loved Mal's... it wasn't really a character arc, but something like it. Maybe a character loop? Whatever it was. I loved his struggle because River isn't technically his crew but at the same time she is but... I also liked how he dealt with Simon, too.

WAAASSSHHH!!! I think I hated that (and by hated I mean loved to hate) most because it was at his moment of giddy relief and triumph. He had just flown the biggest gauntlet he would ever have to fly. And he was all "I am a leaf on the wind" which translates to "Look at me! I fucking did it!" and then boom. Gone.

Book was SO an operative.

There was a throwaway line in there that I liked, about how Jayne liked River and Simon but she ain't my sister. I thought it was interesting, how... 1) it implied that Jayne would go to hell and back for family, 2) It said something about his... strata? of valued people? family, crew, friends. And Simon and River were evidently in the tier below crew. 3) It actually said he liked Simon, which wasn't evident at all in much of the first few episodes. I've always liked that Jayne is a thug, and a brute, but he's got heart and a few morals and ethics, even if they're not the kind dictated by polite society/the Alliance.

WAAASSSHHHH!!! BOOK! WAAASH!

[terrie01.livejournal.com]

I think Jayne's "morals" are along the lines of "Don't screw with anyone who knows where you sleep. " ;) I loved th scene where he was talking about when he'd fight/kill someone. "If they start something, if they look like the might start something, if I'm paid to do it...." And he just goes on and on.

[suburbaknght.livejournal.com]

Of course it was about Mal. When the movie opens showing Simon and River's escape it's stating that they're going to serve essential but ultimately superficial roles in the film. Then we see Mal. We see Mal walk through Serenity (that's a turn of phrase, people. Three meanings here). He goes in every room, meets every person on the ship. And it happens in one continuous shot. Do you have any idea how difficult that is? In a movie nearly completely lacking in creative camerawork, we see Mal at the heart of everything and we are told that we're going to stay focused on him.

Then throughout the rest of hte movie it focuses the hell out of Mal. We see him start low and brought lower, and lower, and lower. And this is done by isolating him from everyone, absolutely everyone, around him. There's nobody left to share the screen with him, not as an object of significance.

Remember, at its heart Firefly is about Cowboys, and the heart of the cowboy myth is loneliness.

[terrie01.livejournal.com]

That was actually the second time they've done a continuous shot of the ship and crew. The other time was at the end of "Objects in Space."

[suburbaknght.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that, but if they did that lends some extremely nice cinematic continuity between the show and the movie.