Since I Found Serenity...

So, I did, indeed, get out to see Serenity today. (Note the following contains some emotional reactions, but no spoilers.)

I have to say, I kind of had mixed feelings about it at first (and, in a somewhat different sense, later on as well). Unsurprisingly, there was a bit too much exposition in there for those of us who know the TV series well, and I suspect not quite enough for those who'd never seen it. Which is probably pretty much inevitable; that's a tough line for a movie of this kind to walk. It was also a bit odd trying to figure out exactly how to approach it... Should I expect something very much like the experience of watching an episode of the show, only bigger and with better special effects, or should I approach it as something entirely different? I think the movie itself kinda gave me mixed signals on that point for a while... But eventually it did sort itself out -- or I sorted it out in my mind -- and it settled down quite nicely into what was very unambiguously a cinematic shape, rather than a TV one. And, taken by itself, it was a very dramatically satisfying cinematic shape. Taken as a continuation of the TV series, though, it felt... kind of odd. Because it was very definitely the Firefly characters, behaving like themselves, living in what was very clearly the Firefly universe, with a plot that followed on without any obvious contradictions from where the TV series left off. And yet, the feel was very different somehow. More movie-like in every possible sense, yes, but also much darker in tone (despite the witty dialog and frequent moments of humor). And, considering that the series could get pretty dark on occasion, that actually is saying something. So I really do have this odd mixed reaction. As a movie, I loved it. As a Firefly movie... Well, yes, it is a Firefly movie. Joss Whedon knows his own characters and his universe, after all. But some part of my brain still doesn't quite want to accept it as "what really happened" to these characters after the credits rolled on the last episode, just because the feel is so different, and because the story is one that belongs to a movie, not a TV series. If that makes any sense at all. I've about decided that the best way for me to look at it is as a really big, extremely well-written, perfectly satisfying piece of Firefly fan fiction. Yes. That thought makes me happy.

Oh, and while we're at it, how about a relevant meme:

You scored as Kaylee Frye. The Mechanic. You are a natural mechanic, and you are far too sweet and cheerful to live out here. How you can see the good in everyone around you boggles the mind occasionally. Still you don't seem to be any crazier than that, and it is a nice kinda crazy. Kaylee Frye 50% Simon Tam 44% The Operative 38% River Tam 38% Inara Serra 31% Shepherd Derrial Book 31% Hoban 'Wash' Washburne 31% Zoe Alleyne Washburne 25% Capt. Mal Reynolds 25% Jayne Cobb 19% Which Serenity character are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Alas, the mechanical aptitude part is completely bogus. And I'm not that cute and likeable, either. But you're entirely welcome to think I am