“Firefly” was canceled and the story should end there, but it doesn’t. It was because of the tireless efforts of director Joss Whedon and the fans that “Serenity” exists. The movie may not have done as well at the box office as the executives at Universal would have liked, but a special edition DVD is being released today and that may determine if we get our sequal. It is because of this and the fast approaching two-year anniversary that I decided that it was time to review the movie of the greatest television show ever to be canceled.
The crew of Serenity has taken aboard two fugitives, Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher) and his sister, River (Summer Glau). Simon broke River out of a government “school” where she was experimented on by scientists. All has gone relativity well for the crew of Serenity. Now the government has sent The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor), an assassin, after them. They want River back because of a horrible government secret she might know. The Operative will stop at nothing to bring her back to the Alliance. Captain Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) now must put himself and the rest of his crew in danger to escape the government and their relentless assassin.
Canceled television shows do not get made into movies. It just does not happen and yet, it did. You should all be aware of my love of the show “Firefly,” (if not, click HERE). As with my review of the show, I will say again, that my job as a critic is to put aside my passion for a particular movie and view it with out any bias. That being said…
“Serenity” is the best science fiction movie ever made and it was all done on small budget. The special effects are not in your face and the characters are amazingly developed. The acting is superb and the story is well thought out and developed. Even if one is not a fan of sci-fi movies, chances are you will still like “Serenity.” It is less about the cool spaceships or lasers and more about the characters.
Nathan Fillion reprises his role as Mal and delivers a hero who can be viewed as “morally gray.” Late into the movie, after a settlement where a friend of theirs lived is attacked, Mal sees one of the attackers, whose ship had crashed, making his way out of the wreckage. Mal takes out his pistol and shoots the man dead, no questions asked. He does what he has to do for his crew and has no regrets about it. Fillion can pull off some of the funniest moments of the film as well as the dramatic ones and that is a rare thing to see an actor doing. He has been getting more and more roles in major movies and it is well deserved.
The movie centers on River. In the series she went from a mentally traumatized girl to a mind reading assassin. In the movie we discover more about River than any of the other crew memebers. The reason the government sent The Operative after her is because she knows a secret that could harm their regime. The only problem is River has no idea what it is or even that she knows it. Her mind is restless and the only semblance of calm she gets is from her brother, Simon. Summer Glau had not had any big acting jobs before she got the role of River yet she did an amazing job playing the character. She played her with innocence and vulnerability in the beginning but near the end of the series and especially in the movie she becomes strong and able to return the care she has received. 
The relationship between Simon and River was always my favorite on the show because Simon sacrificed everything, a promising medical career and a whole lot of money, to save his sister. This relationship reaches its climax in the movie. I don’t want to spoil anything so I will just leave you with this line from River. “You take care of me Simon. You’ve always taken care of me. My turn.”
The one actor who seems to be getting the most attention is Chiwetel Ejiofor (pronounced Chew-e-tell Edge-if-or). Every week he seems to be in another movie with a major actor. He has played opposite some of the biggest names in Hollywood. He has played everything from a cop to a drag queen; talk about versatility. In “Serenity” he plays a cold hearted, ruthless assassin. He is so unemotional in everything he does and has no remorse for anything. In one scene he talks about how he is making a better world and Mal asks. “So me and mine have to lay down and die so you can live in your better world?” The Operative responds “I’m not going to live there. There’s no place for me there anymore 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.” In that exchange we see who the Operative really is. He knows what he is doing is bad, but he sees it as a necessity to realize a larger goal.
I can still remember the first time I saw this in the theater. When that first shot of the ship, Serenity, came on screen I got goose bumps. It was the greatest feeling I have ever had watching a movie. Here it was the movie that Browncoats had fought for and to finally see it was vindicating. Joss has said that the sales of this DVD will help Universal decide if making a sequel is worth it. I know that my fellow Browncoats around the world and I plan on showing them it is.
9 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, and some sexual references.
1 hr 59 mins
Hollywood has had a long tradition of adapting books into movies. Some turn out good, others bad. Some stick to the original work and some stray. What if I were to tell you that I saw a movie that strayed so far from its literary counterpart that all that remains is the title and the main character and that this is the second time that this series of movies has done so? Sounds like a movie to avoid, right? Wrong. It seems illogical that a movie that strays so far from the book could even approach mediocrity, but that is what “The Bourne Ultimatum” has done.
Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) used to be a highly trained government agent until he failed a mission and suffered from amnesia. The CIA came after him and the woman who helped him. Then after all that was resolved and he was living peacefully, he gets framed for murder and his girlfriend, Marie, is killed. Now, in “The Bourne Ultimatum,” Jason Bourne is going after the CIA to find out what happened to him. Meanwhile, Noah Vosen (David Stratharin) and Pam Landy (Joan Allen) are going after Bourne, but when Landy discovers that Vosen is going to kill Bourne, she tries to stop him.
Matt Damon continues to earn his place on my top list of actors (behind Christian Bale and Edward Norton). He has made this character his own and there is no way anyone else can play Bourne. Damon has said that this will be the last time he plans to play Bourne and hopefully, the two other Bourne books (not written by Robert Ludlum) will not be made into movies. Damon plays Bourne as he should be, a hero who has a conscience and knows when to kill and when there are other options. He is very calculating in every move he makes. Nothing he does is by accident; it is all part of a larger plan.
While this movie has absolutely nothing to do with the book, it is still awesome. They have been successful without sticking to the plot of the last two books because it is as exciting and riveting as the plots of the books. The books do get complicated and would be tough to tell in a two-hour movie and keep it coherent. The movies take the character in a different, but equally interesting and action packed direction. The one thing that the books have that I would have loved to have seen in the movie is the interplay between Jason Bourne and David Webb (Bourne’s real name). It would have made for some interesting scenes to see the killer fight internally with Webb.
I’m going to come right out and say it. Jason Bourne would kick James Bond’s ass in a fight. Jason can and will use anything and everything to fight off and kill those who attack him. In this movie he uses a book and a towel to fend off and kill an attacker. As well as the odd weapons this movie, like the other two, has some amazing chase scenes. Whether he is on foot, on a motorbike or in a cop car, Jason Bourne can out run anyone. The car chase in this movie, while not as good as the one in “The Bourne Identity”, is still worthy of the Bourne name. At one point he drives his car backwards off a parking structure onto a lower level crushing a bunch of cars and he still manages to escape without hurting himself much.
Bourne has, over the past three films, redefined the secret agent. He is always planning, always looking for a way out and willing to do anything to get what he wants. “The Bourne Ultimatum” is a worthy ending to the Bourne series and hopefully there will be no more. Bourne is one character I do not want to see dragged out in to endless sequels. While I love the movies and the character, it would taint what makes these movies special to make more Bourne movies with any other actor than Matt Damon.
8 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for violence and intense sequences of action.
1 hr 51 mins
