SVS: “Serenity”

Last updated on: January 11, 2015 at 4:12 pm by Joseph Susanka

SVS: “Serenity” 2015-01-11T16:12:44-07:00 Joseph Susanka

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OK, I admit it. This week’s suggestion is maybe a teeny-tiny, wee bit clickbait-y. A smidgen of “Let’s See If I Can Tap Into the Insane Power of the Browncoats,” yes.

But I’m not sorry. Because it’s also a really fun flick, and today’s Friday. And for those among us interested in the cinematically historical, it’s probably also the film that convinced the twin-headed, behemothian monster of Marvel and Disney to let an essentially untested, wiseacring television writer try his hand at directing one of the most massive movies ever (to date).

I speak, of course, of the incomparable and fanatically-beloved Joss Whedon. And of his Serenity, available via NETFLIX INSTANT. (The Avengers, mentioned above, is also available via NETFLIX INSTANT, as is HIS RECENT Much Ado About Nothing. But that’s not why I’ve called you here today. Stay focused, can’t you?)

Picking up where his cult show “Firefly” left off, Joss Whedon’s tale of galactic unrest follows Capt. Mal Reynolds and his scrappy but loyal crew.

Now, here’s the part where I confess to not enjoying this film as much as I thought I would. Sure, it was a fairly satisfying conclusion to a number of the character arcs. And it was competently shot and paced. But some of Whedon’s writing decisions confused me. And a couple of them actually made me angry. (Yep. Angry. And not always as a result of the obvious, SPOILER-y decisions, either.)

But here’s the part where I also admit that I was only confused or angry or bitter or sad because I cared so darn much about Mal and Jayne and Zoë and Wash and Kaylee and Book and Co. In short, because I cared so much about Whedon’s masterful, legendary “Firefly.”

Ah, so now we get to the crux of the matter. The real reason I’m recommending the enjoyable-but-imperfect “Serenity” in the first place. It all about the segue; the sudden-but-inevitable pivot. “Firefly,” hands-down my favorite TV show in recent memory (at least at present), is currently streaming on NETFLIX INSTANT.

Once more, shall we? For dramatic effect:

“Firefly” is streaming on NETFLIX INSTANT.

Wait. Why are you still here? If you head over there right now and start watching, you’ll be done in about 657 minutes. Less than 10 hours. Which is a bargain. Heck, it’d be a bargain for the last 5 minutes of “Ariel” alone; easily one of my favorite television moments ever. But you don’t have to look for those particular five, because there are plenty of great minutes to go ’round.

“Well, my days of not taking you seriously are certainly coming to a middle.”

Attribution(s): All posters, publicity images, and movie stills are the property of Universal Pictures and other respective production studios and distributors, and are intended for editorial use only.

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