I have gone over and over this, and have come to the conclusion that it's Joss' story and he can do whatever he wants with it, but I'm the consumer, and I choose the point at which I disengage.

Wash's death did contribute to the story Joss was telling. I just didn't realize until credits rolled that Serenity wasn't about Serenity and her crew, it wasn't about Mal and his crew, it wasn't about the ensemble at all. It was about the little girl prevailing against insurmountable odds. It's Joss' theme and I should have remembered that going in. But I was suckered by the Firefly ensemble, and believed that the unit would prevail.

I could accept that A. bitter victory comes at a cost, and B. death is swift and random better if it hadn't been the old guy and the happily married man who died. Simon would have been a better example, since he was ready to give up everything for his sister. Kaylee would have been a better example: young, talented, sweet, how poignant to save one young girl and lose another. Zoe would have been a much more severe blow, as Mal's right hand and Wash's wife.

The old guy seemed like a throwaway, and the happily married guy seemed like a cliche. ETA: Book's part in this story had come to an end, therefore he could be killed off without impacting the story's course, except to compel Mal on revenge. Cheap storytelling. Further, Wash is a pilot, he flies the ship. The minute the ship miraculously touched down, his usefulness was over. He's not a ground fighter, not a soldier like Zoe or Jayne. At that point Wash has exactly the same value as Kaylee, less than either of the warriors or the doctor. It's a cheap death.

To me. Your character death may vary.

nods fiercely

Beverly said what I would have.

I so completely agree with Beverly.

Part of the problem for me was that Firefly didn't run long enough to turn into "the little girl prevailing against insurmountable odds," although perhaps that would have happened. Firefly was the ensemble, and River was in the bottom half of character interest for me. So I went in to Serenity expecting what I'd gotten from Firefly, rather than what Joss hadn't gotten to do with Firefly.

::Sits with the nice ladies and agrees::

Interview with Nathan, in which he gives Mal Reynolds some big love: [link]

(will xpost with Minearverse, because he also gives Tim some big love)

River is the most troublesome element of Serenity to me, as although the film wasn't supposed to be about her, it felt like it most of the time. They even went back and reshot things to emphasis it's Mal we're supposed to be following, but it didn't really work. I still think thematically it had many layers which worked for me personally (I think it's a great, great movie), but it did tend to get distracted at times. I still maintain I'm glad the movie was called Serenity, as it wasn't Firefly. Might be the same characters, might be the same universe, but it's not the TV show I loved.

Personally, Wash's death worked for me. I had a mental list of people I thought might die (you know, it's a Joss thing), but I didn't think it'd be Wash in a million years. There's one of two things that can happen in that situation with an audience: they are either thrown out of the story by denial/anger/whatever, or they are drawn in. I was on the edge of my seat first viewing, and only half because I really needed to pee.

Hmm. If it was to be about Mal, yes, they did a bad job in my eyes. Because it's about River, her mystery, and how that affects people, almost foremost of whom is Mal.

Well, the official line (meaning, Joss' from the commentary, I think) was that it is Mal's story as told by River. I personally know one of many things which came back from the early test screenings was people thinking it was River's film, but being disappointed by her journey. Which is why the reshoots (well, additional scenes) went in to make people focus on Mal a bit more.

Personally -- and, yeah, I'm not an expert -- I would have stripped River's part back a bit and put more Inara in. Inara could act as a window to Mal, but also have her own part.

Well, it was one of the few times I didn't hate Inara, but I'd have been resentful of her gaining screen time at the expense of anyone who actually got any.

the official line (meaning, Joss' from the commentary, I think) was that it is Mal's story as told by River

Huh. Sounds like some backpeddaling to me. As in they started to make Mal's story, but it turned out to be River's so they had to adjust their "official line."

To me, it is River's story. Period.

Because it's about River, her mystery, and how that affects people, almost foremost of whom is Mal.

So very much this.

I'm not sure if River needed to be stripped back more, but I think they could have done away with Mr. Universe and expanded Book's part more. Imagine if instead of having Book already be off the ship, at the beginning they dropped him at his mission and, somehow, found some kind of abandoned (possibly Alliance) signal complex, either in space or on the missionary world, which Book "mysteriously" understands the workings of. They could even have included the first visit that happened in the movie, and thus given Book a bit more time/backstory, plus he could also be a window into Mal. His death could have had more meaning (which did ping me as gratuitous/cliched), and we could have done without the plot device that was Mr. U's only reason for being.

I had no issue with Wash's death, though it did make me sad. It totally made it "all bets are off" for me on who was going to make it. Plus, once I learned about the meta reasons for who died, I couldn't unknow them.