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By CASEY CAMPBELL Staff Writer The movie was "Serenity," a sci-fi action western set in the near future with a story and writing so spectacular that it will leave you crying. Especially if you’re dicing onions when you watch it. Alright, so technically it wasn’t the movie that left a salty wetness trailing down my cheeks, but honestly, it really is an amazing film. The movie tells the tale of nine misfits who make their home on a beat-up ship named Serenity, an outdated Firefly model (so named for its resemblance to the lit-butt bug) used by smugglers and other space brigands. And brigands they are, perpetually on the run from the Alliance _ the big, bad government responsible for managing and policing the dozens of colonized planets _ for their petty crimes and general reluctance to adhere to the Alliance’s "civilized" ways. They make their way taking on odd-jobs, mostly smuggling illicit goods (dastardly stuff like food and medicine) between the less civilized, poverty-ridden border planets or stealing from the Alliance-controlled central planets. The border planets are styled after the Wild West, where strong-arm outlaws run most towns while hard-working folks fight for an existence on the wild frontier, independent of the stifling Alliance. By contrast, the central planets are technological marvels, full of the space doodads and whiz-bang wonders that Star Trek and The Jetsons led us to believe we’d be seeing (and flying) in the real world by now. They’re also little more than police states, where red tape and bureaucracy rule daily life. Safe and secure though they may be, the central planets are also incredibly sterile and devoid of the freedom many people prefer. Unlike most other stories taking place in space, the world created by "Serenity" writer Joss Whedon (acclaimed creator of the "Buffy the Vampire" television series) is more "realistic." I’m referring here to the fact that the known universe is not populated by green aliens sporting slimy tentacles or fuzzy wuzzy wookies, but by humans, exclusively and completely. Additionally, everyone grows up speaking English and Chinese, reflecting the real-world likelihood that China will one day be as influential as America. I don’t want to get too in depth regarding Serenity’s specific story for two reasons: 1) it’s a riveting adventure and I don’t want to spoil anything and 2) it’s so well thought out and structured that anything I write about it would, at best, be incomplete and, at worst, be a complete injustice. But if I had to summarize the plot with a few broad generalizations, it would go like this: space thieves running from tyranny run into cannibals and discover a truth which could topple the Alliance stranglehold. Yes folks, plot butchery at its best. Just trust me for a change and go rent this movie. Or better yet, go rent the canned TV show "Firefly" on DVD and then watch the movie, as the film picks up where the show left off and was created to wrap up an amazing series that was prematurely aborted. They’re both so good that they’ll make you cry. Even if you aren’t cutting any onions. |
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