And here, at last, we come to the culmination (unless you count the comics) of Joss Whedon's greatest series - a cruel yet satisfying movie that amplifies the pro-liberty and pro-human themes to be found in the original fourteen television episodes.
Plot Synopsis:
A few contributors have written a plot synopsis at IMDB here.
(Apologies. Normally speaking, for such a high-rated production, one of us would compose an original synopsis, but certain family-related circumstances have made that impossible this week.)
The Skinny:
Stephanie S.: It can be argued that all of the major themes of this magnificent film are developed through the evolution of the principals. On the side of right - well, at least by the end of the movie - we have Mal. At the start, the writers imply that quite a bit of time has passed since the events of Objects in Space and that Mal and his crew has struggled to keep afloat in the meantime. This time of tribulation, we can see, has made Mal hard and bitter. Focused purely on the survival of his ragtag team, he is even willing to go so far as to deny another human being escape from a Reaver attack. When Zoe confronts Mal about this later, it becomes evident that Mal is teetering on the edge of choosing naked self-interest over the beliefs that drove him during the war. He is - as he himself observes in a much later scene - a man who has lost his moral rudder.
As the plot of the movie unfolds, however, Mal rediscovers his Browncoat idealism. In the face of horrifying evidence of the Alliance's illiberal and immoral willingness to experiment with human beings, he becomes a hero. What makes him thus? He recognizes that there are things - ideas - in the 'verse that must be put before his own instinct for self-preservation, and he finds the strength to risk death for a cause. But beyond that, he latches onto a cause that is right. It is not enough to simply believe - the content of the belief definitely matters. If your convictions are based on love and hope and liberty - as Mal's ultimately are - they are good.
On the other hand, the movie implies, if your convictions are based on an underlying contempt for and a desire to control your fellow fallen human beings, they are evil. Whedon is not a Christian, yet it's astonishing how much his development of the Operative cleaves to the Church's ethical teaching. The Church tells us that any act can be judged based on two elements: its intent and its execution. The Church further stresses that both elements matter; thus, Christianity teaches that the best acts are those that combine good intent with good results and that no evil should be performed so that good can come from it. Of course, the Church also takes into consideration a variety of subjective circumstances that influence every ethical decision, but the fact remains that Whedon's Operative perfectly embodies the Church's point that the particulars of an action matter just as much as the ideals that drive it. The Operative is willing to die for his own cause, but he is villainous because he has chosen an earth-bound "utopia" that seeks to "perfect" man by any means necessary - means that include engineering human weapons (River) and essentially murdering millions of innocent people in an attempt to scientifically quell their baser impulses.
And hell yes, my co-author is right below - the evil we see in the Operative and in the operation on Miranda is profoundly and immediately relevant to our post-modern world in which a variety of ideologies have embraced a consciousness of man's sin while losing sight of the love of God. Current-day forms of Marxism - or the now very powerful environmental movement - seek to impose the Cross on mankind while neglecting the hope of the Resurrection. These movements punish while pretending to be compassionate.
SABR Matt: There are three themes that are of deep importance to me that make this movie one of the best sci-fi presentations I've had the pleasure of viewing.
First and foremost - the (highlighted) line that makes my blood boil over with passionate acclamation that serves as the most well-known theme of this canon:
Sure as I know anything I know this: they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that.
This desire to engineer God's greatest creation...to make us in the image of an anointed elite...to control what that group fears most - the sometimes chaotic and always freedom-loving voice of the people - is currently destroying the science to which I've dedicated my life (atmospheric science - now run amok with a multinational green movement more interested in culling the global population and creating world government than in actually pursuing real science). It has made mockery of well-meaning religions, torn apart Europe on several occasions, and led to the greatest evils of any generation. Whenever we try to play God...unspeakable horrors follow.
Second, the cure for this evil is made known at the end of the story - love. Love makes us do impossible things. Love for one's brothers in arms, or for the families back home who need their protection, allows men to face terror on a daily basis in the service of the military. Love for our soul mate allows us to overcome our petty personal desires and dedicate ourselves to the propagation of the species (and to a more perfect relationship with God). Love for our country brings us to the streets when protest is required and allows us to sacrifice for a cause greater than ourselves. And above it all...love comes from God. His love is stronger than any evil. No matter what happens on this, our flawed planet (filled with men and women who have the desire to control our every thought and action), we can face it and overcome evil if we look to that love. Mal is not speaking only about his ship when he talks about love as they prepare to take off at the end. Any great Captain does form a relationship with the ship that bears him home...but we all know to what he is referring. Even if he, himself, cannot admit it.
And finally, there are the more subtle undertones about the intrinsic value of human life. No matter how River Tam might threaten Serenity, her life still has value. She cannot be cast aside simply to make things easier for all who dwell within. Her life, the lives of those turned mad by the Pax (yes...even those Reavers...though they must be exterminated for the good of the rest...we mourn for the loss of those peoples' souls), the lives of those who simply stopped caring about their own lives...all of those lives have value and treating that life like a commodity on which experiments can be done for the "greater good"...is never an acceptable morality. The same reason Communism does not work (and inevitably leads to corruption and the violation of the inalienable rights of the people) applies. Government should not treat its' population like beans in a jar...there is an INFINITE value to each life. It cannot be measured and compared...there is no cost-benefit analysis when dealing with human lives.
When you put such POTENT messages on top of a brilliantly written, engaging story and add in some fabulous acting performances and a dash of much-needed humor throughout...you get a thoroughly satisfying experience.
Writing: 10.0 / 10.0
Whedon pens an action-packed and morally grounded story that gives every character in the ensemble his or her moment in the sun. In the process, he manages to sprinkle in those Whedonesque touches of humor - from the characterization of Mr. Universe to River's child-like report that she swallowed a bug during the first great escape from the Reavers - that attracted us to this author's oeuvre to begin with. In short, this script is a true tour de force - a magnificent contribution to the genre of science fiction.
SABR Matt Chimes In: I can't find a single hole in this script. The full range of emotions are perfectly choreographed to tug on the heart strings. The words choices are magnificent and pleasing to the ear and the mind. The direction and staging of each scene is creative and effective. I challenge anyone to find one reason to complain.
Acting: 9.0 / 9.5
Performance-wise, I noticed moments of awkwardness here and there, but those moments were few and far between. For the most part, the ensemble makes the transition to the big screen with consummate skill. I was particularly impressed with Summer Glau, whose dance background really comes to the fore in River's action sequences.
SABR Matt Chimes In: Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau and Jewel Staite were the top performers, if you ask me, though Chiwetel Ejofor (The Operative) had many top moments as well - as did Ron Glass and Gina Torres. Forget about finding anything majorly off-putting about the acting and just enjoy the show.
Message: 10.0 / 10.0 +++++++++
What grabbed me in this movie on first viewing five years ago was its uncompromising attack on social engineering. As I implied above, Serenity is a cautionary tale that should encourage our elites to think twice before foisting their idea of utopia upon the rest of us.
SABR Matt Chimes In: I've said my fill in my main comments. I wish I could scream this message directly into the minds of people like Michael Mann and James Hansen (climate change opportunists of the worst kind). Of course, I'll simply be characterized as a denier or as an irrational angry man by folks like them (and by the media), but for now, I'll settle for believing that, eventually, reality will reach these people. If this seems like a tangent to the readers...go back and reread my comments in the Skinny section above...I assure you...it's directly relevant.
Highlights:
TEACHER: It's true that there are dangers on the outer planets. So with so many social and medical advancements we can bring to the Independents why would they fight so hard against us?
YOUNG RIVER: We meddle.
TEACHER: River?
YOUNG RIVER: People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think. Don't run, don't walk. We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome.
TEACHER: River, we're not telling people what to think. We're just trying to show them how.
OPERATIVE: You know, in certain older civilized cultures when men failed as entirely as you have, they would throw themselves on their swords.
MATHIAS: Well, unfortunately, I forgot to bring a sword. (Ah, but the Operative has one handy. Indeed, he whips it out right at this moment, and a light of fear is kindled in Mathias' eyes.) I would put that down right now, if I were you.
OPERATIVE: Would you be killed in your sleep like an ailing pet?
MAL: Did the primary buffer panel just fall off my gorram ship for no apparent reason?
WASH: Looks like.
MAL: I thought Kaylee checked the entry couplings.
WASH: I've a clear memory of it. If she doesn't get us extra flow from the engine room to offset the burn-through, this landing is gonna get pretty interesting.
MAL: Define "interesting."
WASH: Oh God, oh God, we're all gonna die?
(Mal gets on the horn.)
MAL: This is the captain. We have a little problem with our entry sequence,
so we may experience some slight turbulence... and then explode.
JAYNE: We're gonna explode? I don't wanna explode.
MAL: (noting what Jayne is packing) Jayne, how many weapons you plan on taking? You only got two arms.
JAYNE: I just get excitable as to choice. Like to have my options open.
MAL: I don't plan on any shooting taking place during this job.
JAYNE: What you plan and what takes place ain't ever exactly been similar
MAL: Listen up! We're coming down to empty that vault!
GUARD: (calling up from within said vault) You have to give me your authorization password!
(Jayne fires a few rounds down into the hatch. A beat.)
GUARD: Okay!
MAL: The leg is good. It'll bleed plenty, and we avoid any necessary organs.
GUARD: I was thinking more of a graze.
MAL: No, you don't want it to look like you gave up.
(After the early flight from the Reavers.)
SIMON: River?
RIVER: (dazed) I swallowed a bug.
MAL: Man has to cut loose, learn to stand on his own.
ZOE: Like that man back in town?
MAL: I had to shoot him. What Reavers would've done before they killed him...
ZOE: I know. That was a piece of mercy. But before that, him begging us to bring him along...
MAL: We couldn't take the weight. Would've slowed us down.
ZOE: You know that for certain?
MAL: Mule won't run with five. I should've dumped the girl? Or you? Or Jayne? Oh, Jayne...
ZOE: You could've tossed the payload.
MAL: (scoffing) Tossed the... Zoe, I got bits falling off my ship, I got a crew ain't been paid, and, oh, yeah, a powerful need to eat sometime this month. We tell Fanty and Mingo we skunked the job what do you think they'll do to us? (A beat.) We're close to gone out here. We get a job, we got to make good.
ZOE: Sir, I don't disagree on any particular point. It's just... in a time of war, we would've never left a man stranded.
MAL: Maybe that's why we lost.
KAYLEE: When I carried such a torch, when we could've... We're going on a year now I ain't had nothing twixt my nethers that weren't run on batteries!
MAL: Oh, God! I can't know that!
JAYNE: I could stand to hear a little more.
MAL: (to Simon) I believe you've got some storytelling to do. What the hell happened back there?
WASH: Can you start with the part where Jayne gets knocked out by a ninety-pound girl? 'Cause I don't think that's ever getting old.
MAL: I could have left her there. I had an out. Hell, I had every reason in the 'verse to leave her lay and haul anchor.
BOOK: It's not your way, Mal.
MAL: I have a way? That better than a plan?
BOOK: Only one thing is gonna walk you through this, Mal: belief.
MAL: You know I always look to you for counsel, but sermons make me sleepy, Shepherd. I ain't looking for help from on high. That's a long wait for a train that don't come.
BOOK: When I talk about belief, why do you always assume I'm talking about God? (A beat.) They'll come at you sideways. It's how they think. It's how they move. Sidle up and smile. Hit you where you're weak. Sort of man they're like to send believes hard. Kills and never asks why.
MAL: It's of interest to me how much you seem to know about that world.
BOOK: I wasn't born a Shepherd, Mal.
MAL: Have to tell me about that sometime.
BOOK: No, I don't.
KAYLEE: But how can you be sure Inara don't just wanna see you? Sometimes people
have feelings. And I'm referring here to people.
MAL: You all were watching, I take it?
KAYLEE: Yes.
MAL: Did you see us fight?
KAYLEE: No.
MAL: Trap.
MAL: Zoe, ship is yours. And remember, if anything happens to me or if you don't hear from me within the hour, you take this ship and you come and you rescue me.
ZOE: What? Risk my ship?
MAL: I mean it. It's cold out there. And I don't wanna get left.
MAL: Dear Buddha, please bring me a pony, and a plastic rocket, and...
INARA: Mal! What are you doing here?
MAL: Well, you invited me.
INARA: I never thought for a second you'd be stupid enough to come!
MAL: Well, that makes you kind of a tease, doesn't it?
OPERATIVE: I think you're beginning to understand how dangerous River Tam is.
MAL: She is a mite unpredictable. Mood swings, of a sort.
OPERATIVE: It's worse than you know.
MAL: It usually is.
OPERATIVE: That girl will rain destruction down on you and your ship. She is an albatross, Captain.
MAL: Way I remember it, albatross was a ship's good luck, till some idiot killed it. (to Inara) Yes, I've read a poem. Try not to faint.
MAL: Advice from an old tracker: you want to find someone, use your eyes.
OPERATIVE: How long do you think you can really run from us?
MAL: I never credited the Alliance with an overabundance of brains. And if you're the best they got...
OPERATIVE: Captain Reynolds... I should tell you, so that you don't waste your time... you can't make me angry.
INARA: Please, spend an hour with him.
OPERATIVE: Nothing here is what it seems. He isn't the plucky hero. The Alliance isn't some evil empire. This is not the grand arena.
INARA: And that's not incense. (BOOM! Good for Inara.)
INARA: We've every reason to be afraid.
JAYNE: Why, 'cause this guy beat up Mal? That ain't so hard.
MAL: He didn't beat me up. Nobody said that.
MAL: Look, we get back to Haven in a few hours' time...
JAYNE: Oh, yeah. Hiding under the Shepherd's skirts... that's a manful scheme.
MAL: You wanna run this ship?
JAYNE: (bluntly) Yes.
MAL: (surprised by Jayne's directness) Well... you can't!
JAYNE: Do a damn sight better job than you. Getting us lashed over a couple of strays. No offense, Doc. I think it's noble as a grape the way you look to River. But she ain't my sister and she ain't your crew. Oh, and neither is she exactly helpless. So, where's it writ that we got to lay down our lives for her? Which is what you've steered us toward.
MAL: I didn't start this.
JAYNE: No, that's right. Alliance starts the war, and then you volunteer. Battle of Serenity, Mal. Besides Zoe here, how many... (Mal starts to walk away.) Hey, I'm talking at you! How many men in your platoon came out of there alive?
MAL: I got no answers for you, Inara. I got no rudder. Wind blows northerly, I go north. That's who I am. Now, maybe that ain't a man to lead, but they have to follow. So you wanna tear me down, do it inside your own mind.
INARA: I'm not trying to tear you down.
MAL: But you fog things up! You always have. You spin me about. (A beat.) I wish like hell you was elsewhere. (He leaves.)
INARA: I was.
MAL: (to River) The government's man, he says you're a danger to us. Not worth helping. Is he right? Are you anything but a weapon? I've staked my crew's life on the theory you're a person, actual and whole, and if I'm wrong, you'd best shoot me now. (River cocks her gun.) Or we could talk more.
ZOE: This is us, at Haven, and here's Miranda. All along here - that empty space in between? That's Reaver territory. They just float out there, sending out raiding parties. You go through that, you're signing up to be a banquet.
WASH: I'm on board with our standard run-and-hide scenario.
MAL: Don't move.
BOOK: Won't go far.
MAL: Shouldn't have been you. Alliance should've hit us. Should've hit me.
BOOK: That crossed my mind. (A beat.) I shot him down.
MAL: Yeah. I see.
BOOK: I killed the ship... that killed us. Not very Christian of me.
MAL: You did what's right.
BOOK: Coming from you, that means almost nothing. (Another beat.) I'm long gone.
MAL: No, Doc will bring you around. I look to be bored by many more sermons before you slip. Just don't move.
BOOK: Can't order me around, boy. I'm not one of your crew.
MAL: Yes... you are.
OPERATIVE: I'm sorry. If your quarry goes to ground, leave no ground to go to. You should have taken my offer. Or did you think none of this was your fault?
MAL: I don't murder children.
OPERATIVE: I do. If I have to.
MAL: Why? Do you even know why they sent you?
OPERATIVE: It's not my place to ask. I believe in something greater than myself. A better world. A world without sin.
MAL: So me and mine gotta lay down and die so you can live in your better world?
OPERATIVE: I'm not going to live there. There's no place for me there any more than there is for you. Malcolm... I'm a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.
MAL: Keep talking. You're not getting a location trace off this wave.
OPERATIVE: And every minute you keep River Tam from me, more people will die.
MAL: You think I care?
OPERATIVE: Of course you care. You're not a Reaver, Mal. You're a human man.
ZOE: Sir... do you really mean to turn our home into an abomination so that we can make a suicidal attempt at passing through Reaver space?
MAL: I mean to live.
KAYLEE: What are they doing? What's everybody doing?
SIMON: There's no unusual discoloration. Nobody's doubled over or showing signs of pain.
MAL: There's gasses that kill painless, right?
INARA: They didn't fall. None of them. They just... lay down.
RIVER: (Chinese muttering, then:) Make them stop! They're everywhere! Every city, every... every house, every room! They're all inside me. I can hear them all, and they're saying nothing! Get up. Please get up. (More Chinese.) Please, God, make me a stone...
JAYNE: (freaked out) She is starting to damage my calm.
ZOE: Jayne...
JAYNE: She's right! Everybody's dead. This whole world is dead for no reason!
RECORDING: ... these are just a few of the few images we've recorded. And you can see it isn't what we thought. There's been no war here... and no terraforming event. The environment is stable. It's the Pax. The G-Paxilon Hydroclorate that we added to the air processors. It was supposed to calm the population - weed out aggression. Well, it works. The people here stopped fighting. And then they stopped everything else. They stopped going to work... they stopped breeding, talking, eating. There's thirty million people here, and they all just let themselves die. (We hear a commotion in the background.) I have to be quick. About a tenth of a percent of the population had the opposite reaction to the Pax. Their aggressor response increased beyond madness. They have become... (We hear more noise in the background.) Well, they've killed most of us. And not just killed. They've done things...
WASH: (realization dawning) Reavers. They made them!
MAL: This report is maybe twelve years old. Parliament buried it, and it stayed buried till River dug it up. This is what they feared she knew. And they were right to fear... because there's a whole universe of folk who are gonna know it, too. They're gonna see it. Somebody has to speak for these people. (A beat.) You all got on this boat for different reasons... but you all come to the same place. So now I'm asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything I know this: they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people... better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running. I aim to misbehave.
ZOE: (to Mal) We need to draw them till it's done. This is the place. We'll buy you the time.
JAYNE: All right, let's move those crates back there for cover. Make sure they ain't filled with nothing goes boom.
KAYLEE: Wait, Wash! Where's Wash?
ZOE: He ain't coming. (And the long moment of silence that follows is devastating - as is the look on Kaylee's face.)
JAYNE: Captain's right. Can't be thinking on revenge if we're gonna get through this.
ZOE: Do you really think any of us are gonna get through this?
JAYNE: Well, I might!
SIMON: I never planned... anything. I just wanted to keep River safe. Spent so much time on Serenity ignoring anything that I wanted for myself. My one regret in all of this... is never being with you.
KAYLEE: With me? You mean to say, as... sex?
SIMON: I mean to say.
(Kaylee gathers her resolve.)
KAYLEE: The hell with this! I'm gonna live!
MAL: You shot me in the back! I haven't made you angry, have I?
OPERATIVE: There are a lot of innocent people in the air being killed right now.
MAL: You have no idea how true that is. I know the secret. The truth that burned up
River Tam's brain. Rest of the 'verse is going to know it, too. 'Cause they need to.
OPERATIVE: Do you really believe that?
MAL: I do.
OPERATIVE: You willing to die for that belief?
MAL: I am. (Then he fires his gun at the Operative several times.) Of course, that ain't exactly Plan A.
OPERATIVE: Do you know what your sin is, Mal?
MAL: Ah, hell. I'm a fan of all seven. (They continue to struggle.) But right now... I'm gonna have to go with wrath.
OPERATIVE: You should know there's no shame in this. You've done remarkable things. But you're fighting a war you've already lost.
MAL: Yeah, well I'm known for that.
MAL: (to the Operative) Sorry about the throat. Expect you'd want to say your famous last words right now. Just one trouble: I ain't gonna kill you. Hell, I'm gonna grant your greatest wish. I'm gonna show you a world without sin.
OPERATIVE: It's not over, you know. I can't guarantee that they won't come after you. The Parliament. Your broadwave about Miranda has weakened their regime. But they are not gone, and they are not... forgiving.
MAL: That don't bode especially well for you... giving the order to let us go, patching up our hurt...
OPERATIVE: I told them the Tams were no longer a threat. Damage done. They might listen... but I think they know I'm no longer their man.
MAL: They take you down, I don't expect to grieve over much. Like to kill you myself, I see you again.
OPERATIVE: You won't. There is nothing left to see.
ZOE: Sir, we have a green light. Inspection's pos, and we're clear for up-thrust.
MAL: (talking about more than one thing) Think she'll hold together?
ZOE: (also talking about more than one thing) She's tore up plenty. But she'll fly true.
MAL: You know what the first rule of flying is? Well, I suppose you do, since you already know what I'm about to say.
RIVER: I do. But I like to hear you say it.
MAL: Love. You can learn all the math in the 'verse... but you take a boat in the air that you don't love... she'll shake you off just as sure as the turn of the worlds. Love keeps her in the air when she ought to fall down... tells you she's hurting before she keels. Makes her a home.
RIVER: Storm's getting worse.
MAL: We'll pass through it soon enough.
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