Post by Linda on Sept 30, 2005 7:49:13 GMT -5
yorick said:
Holy FUCK!!Random thoughts in no particular order. Coherency not guaranteed, as I'm working on about four hours of sleep here...
There were major gasps in my audience when Wash died. Shepherd Book you could sort of see coming, particularly if you'd watched the trailer, but when Wash was killed it was like we'd been hit in the stomach with a Buick.
Major kudos to Joss and Chiwetel Ejiofor for making The Operative somewhat sympathetic character, particularly toward the end.
Even though the Reavers had such a prominent role, when I thought about it I realized we still haven't actually seen one clearly. We got more glimpses and a more vivid sense of what they likely look like, but that was all we had--glimpses and flashes.
Joss hasn't forgotten that what we don't see can be far more terrifying than what we do--the two Reaver-oriented moments that stand out most for me are the audio as Serenity flies through Reaver territory and what we hear of the end of the Alliance rescuer's video log. The look on the woman's face when she tries to shoot herself... brrrr.
I actually had a moment, as more members of the crew kept getting wounded, when I thought "Y'know Joss, it's going to be hard to do any sequels if EVERYONE'S DEAD!! Spare us a few characters, wouldja?"
I never had any doubt that the next time those blast doors opened River would be the one opening them. And how evocative of "Anne" was her pose amidst the Reaver bodies?
Eeetah!
Believe it or not, I can actually understand why Wash would be killed off besides the shock value of the moment itself:
--The nature of the crew and writing means that you don't need one character specifically for comic relief, as was often Wash's role during the course of events.
--He didn't fill a niche among the crew that couldn't be occupied by someone else; we saw that Mal and River are capable of flying the ship, and I suspect Inara could also pilot Serenity in a pinch. In other words they didn't actually need someone just to be a pilot, and there wasn't really another arena--in terms of other jobs associated with the ship--that Wash contributed a lot to.
--Now the boys and girls are at even numbers.
Good points. My inner astronaut agrees (even appreciating gender symmetry ;D). My inner caveperson, however, is in the corner over there punching the walls going "Wash?! WTF?!"
If I may add one more point: in light of the fact that Serenity is more than just a ship, I believe that it is symbolically significant that Mal is now directly responsible for where and how she flies. He is sitting in the pilot seat, rather than standing to one side, disagreeing and snarking with Wash. Even if River eventually becomes the primary pilot, Mal is still responsible for teaching her the finer points of flying -- love your ship.
Was it too much to hope for ONE KISS between Inara and Mal? Apparently so. *grumble grumble*
Where the hell did Inara's bow and arrow set come from?
Too many funny bits to cite them all, but the attempted heist of the vault was pretty classic material from start to finish.
I too noticed the Shakespearean theme Joss had going. And please believe me when I say I'd already gotten a lot written about The Tempest and how it tied in to Firefly in my preliminary work on my "Ariel" review lo those many months ago.
The creepiest thing in the movie may have been the cartoon with the kids and the octopus.
"That's not incense." HEE!
Not only did Mr. Universe have a girlbot but he made an allusion to being Judas Iscariot--giving him two things in common with Spike.
Oooh! Missed the Judas Iscariot allusion, but not the 'bot connection.
Huh. Says a lot about me right there doesn't it?
I was kinda disappointed when it turned out Mal was wearing pajama pants.
;D
Still, it was nice to see a movie with more male than female skin showing for a change.
