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October 1, 2005
What's 'hot' and what's not.
It's true that I have sources of digital products that have been liberated from their indentured existence. But in consuming some of these liberated products during the past 24 hours, I am motivated to be as harsh in my review as the executives who elected not to take the option of continuing the series.
Or, to put it more basically, the series Firefly, upon which the recent Joss Whedon film Serenity is based, is mildly entertaining, but generally pedestrian.
An untidy hodge podge of 1970s westerns, The A Team, Buffy and Lexx, Firefly just doesn't break any new ground. The stories are relatively predictable, to the point where by the end of each week's introduction, you can name the film(s) it's ripping off. (And yes, given the 'history' of the source of this review, the irony of that isn't lost on me.)
Finally, and as seems quite common in Whedon productions, the characters are only interesting if they are larrikin men. The women are either lesbians, warriors, children or whores - or any combination of these - and they are constantly irritating. But probably more irritating are the fans who think Whedon actually likes women. With the possible exception of Zoe (whose need to subject herself to her captain still grates), I've been really hoping the rest of the women would just all get blown out of the airlock so that an interesting program could emerge. I keep getting disappointed.
Yes, I know I'm harsh. But in the past I've not really been a huge fan of Joss Whedon's work. When it came to Buffy and Angel, the characters I liked were always the baddies. In Firefly, there's really only Mal to admire. The rest are all either bland, a bit stupid, irritating or so supremely annoying that you just want to asphyxiate them and be done with it. And yes, in the final category, I am referring to Inara and River. And given you're supposed to care about those characters, I imagine that was reason enough to can the series.
I will go see Serenity and I imagine it will be worth a look. But while the series may be hot, a revelation, it's not.
Posted by jj at October 1, 2005 11:49 AM
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I saw the series, and wasn't uber-impressed with it either. Its not terrible, just not "zomg! j00 have2 w0tch this!".
Its very much like the series "Lost" - looks nice, has decent actors, kinda tastes good while you're watching it, but ultimately just full of empty calories, and a bit forgettable.
Still, my favourite character would be 'Jayne' - perhaps because I first saw the actor in Angel playing a smooth mega-bad-dude and completely opposite of his Jayne character.
Second favourite would be Kaylee. What male geek could resist a chick who is so geeky, and has a nice rack ?
Posted by: qwijibo ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.joannejacobs.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 1, 2005 3:32 PM
Its not terrible, just not "zomg! j00 have2 w0tch this!".
Yep - that's pretty much how I feel about it.
I do like Jayne. He has the larrikin in him and very occasionally he emerges from the basically dumb exterior and is articulate. That's when I find him amusing. But I actually prefer Baldwin's character in Angel - Marcus Hamilton was suave, sophisticated, evil and a complete bastard. That's why I loved him. I was so barracking for him against the bland and tedious Angel.
Kaylee is WAY too dumb for me. She has that irritating naivete that no-one born with an entire brain could ever have. Geekdom is fine. But Geek Chic requires presence and understanding. It's not that Kaylee needs to die like River and Inara. She's just too dumb to be allowed out in public, IMHO.
Posted by: jj at October 1, 2005 4:04 PM
This is about Serenity not Firefly (which I've not seen), but the characters are the same so I guess it might apply a bit? But I have heard that Firefly is a slow starter so I'm cogniscent of that fact ...
I saw Serenity and I thought it was tight, tension-filled and quite charming. Definitely good entertainment with a couple of interesting ideas. I liked the baddie character in particular.
I've seen a few films in the past week and of those it'd be a toss up between Serenity and Little Fish to decide which I'd most like to see again.
Serenity isn't a revelation. However, to be frank, how many things are? Bugger all, I reckon.
But at the end of the day I think I got my money's worth and that's good enough for me.
Demosthenes
Posted by: Demosthenes at October 5, 2005 12:12 PM
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