It often leaves the viewer to infer meaning from context, and that puts Firefly in a league all its own: it assumes a degree of intelligence on the part of the audience that few shows dare to try to get away with.
But unlike some other shows that TRY to do this,
Firefly
never did it with the story. I've been trying to watch more recent well-respected shows, and I find myself unable to follow the characters' paths through the story. I'm consistently asking "How did she figure that out? Why did he decide to do that? What clued him in? Is she suddenly psychic?"
With
Firefly,
the characters were real enough that I never had trouble following their actions and reactions as they created/experienced the story. It wasn't all laid out on a platter, to be sure (What's Book's background? What exactly tipped Mal off that Jayne sold them out? Is Simon gay?), but it was real, and thus the work I put into watching
Firefly
was rewarded.
Shows that try to copy the "Don't explain everything" need to have a better understanding of when you can and can't do that.
I noticed that the head cop said "You mean my reward for apprehending the three fugitives" (emphasis added).
I assumed that it meant he was adding Jayne as an accomplice.
A nice interview with Chris Buchanan is up at Development-Hell.com. He also (very) briefly mentions the project he's working on with Tim.
Serenity not doing well at Rotten Tomatoes (currently 57%).
It's up to 63% today (no longer in the "Rotten" category). Plus, there are only 8 reviews being counted toward that %.
This one from Slant brings up one point I am concerned about (but can't unknow the show, so to speak):
The storyline is fairly easy enough to follow, but you get a sense that the movie needs to be seen within the context of the show; not only is there an overwhelming feeling that the events in the film take place in the middle of something much bigger, but Whedon assumes his audience is familiar enough with the Serenity crew that he can skimp on the niceties of character development. What we have here, then, is a bunch of galaxy-bouncing rebels whose relationships to one another are as thin as cardboard and whose existential struggles are reduced to pat one-word signifiers like Love and Pride.
But then he follows it up with this, and makes me wonder if we saw the same movie:
From the awkward pacing of the thing to the Star Trek-style design of ship interiors and the Jetsons-meets-Flintstones décor of earthbound edifices, this is UPN-style storytelling and aesthetics trying to pass as serious filmmaking.
He goes on to say some very positive things on some of the plot specifics, but the above just sounds like a cheap shot at the Buffyverse shows.
Hie thee to B'cacy, since a discussion on where movie talk goes after the 30th has just started there.
So far, the options are -- in Spoilers for a couple months, or in here blackfont after the 17th of October.
Star Trek-style design of ship interiors
Which Star Trek was this reviewer watching, the short-lived Star Trek on the Prairie?
"I canna make the ship go any faster, cap'n, unless you ask your Paw for some dilithium crystals and a new butter churn."
Which Star Trek was this reviewer watching, the short-lived Star Trek on the Prairie?
Yeah, that was a big WTF when I read that. The only Trek show that came close to consistently having interiors like the ships in FIREFLY/SERENITY was DS9, and those were the station's, not the ships'.
Which Star Trek was this reviewer watching, the short-lived Star Trek on the Prairie?
I was wondering that too, and then I thought well, the
inside of the Alliance ships are somewhat Star Trek-y
but considering the name-sake of the movie is very non-Star Trek, it's an unwarranted criticism.
I am still annoyed, though, that the color scheme of the show was very brown, while the movie is very blue, which I suppose could contribute to the feeling of Trekkitude.
I am still annoyed, though, that the color scheme of the show was very brown, while the movie is very blue, which I suppose could contribute to the feeling of Trekkitude.
At least it wasn't green, because that would have meant it was happening in the Matrix.
