Nothing Gratuitous

God damn you, Joss Whedon!

So, I saw Serenity today. I punched out of work and went while the boys were napping (and Quin will go tomorrow and we'll talk about it tomorrow night. It's almost a Bill Gates kind of date).

It doesn't really say anything to say that I liked it. That doesn't begin to cover it. It's not just a "make you laugh/make you cry" kind of thing. It's a "make you feel everything little thing" kind of thing.

This is exactly what I want to write. Or perhaps more correctly how I want to write. There is nothing gratuitous. The jokes aren't just for laughs, they tell you more about the characters. The same goes for the violence. How often can you say that about an action film? That the violence tells you something deep about the character?

Of course what slipped from my mind when I went to the movies today is that this is a Joss Whedon story, and that means all bets are off. You know how you see a James Bond movie and there is never any doubt in your mind that Bond is going to make it through everything unscathed? This is the opposite of that. There was a point in the movie when I actually thought they were all going to die. No kidding. Joss can do that to you.

And Joss knows the power of the soundtrack, especially when to shut it off and let the actors act. Like editing, it's easier to notice when this is done badly than when it is done well. If you've seen The Mummy 2 then you've seen the scene when Rachel Weisz's character dies (she gets better). Brendan Frazer is probably doing an amazing job in that scene, but it's hard to judge because the MUSIC SWELLS and you can't hardly hear him over the REALLY SAD MUSIC TELLING YOU THIS IS A MOMENT OF INTENSE GRIEF. Hate the all caps? Think it lacks subtlety? That's how I feel about movie soundtracks.

On the down side, with no sound everyone in the theater can hear you snuffling away. And I seemed to have picked the showing just for fanboys.

I went to the show sort of expecting to be disappointed. How could a two-hour movie give me a sense of closure? This was clearly a TV series like Buffy, where Joss started out with a multiyear arc in his head. I didn't get closure, that is true. But I sure as hell wasn't disappointed.