Director Report Card: Joss Whedon (2005)

Is Joss Whedon the most divisive figure in all of nerddom? Well, probably not, but the fact of the matter is Whedon is not the universally beloved icon he once was. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” maintains a die hard following to this day while still being a hugely influential show, on the way television series are written and planned. His script doctor work lent his immediately recognizable voice to blockbusters like “Speed” and “Toy Story.” His hyper-verbal, frequently sarcastic dialogue – which many debate the merits of – is undeniably distinctive. And the case can certainly be made that, without Whedon, Marvel's “Avengers” franchise – and the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe and every affect it's had on blockbuster cinema in the last decade – wouldn't have been as monstrously successful.

Yet the three-part punch of one really poorly written scene in an overstuffed sequel, some unflattering revelations about his personal life, and the fetish-y “Dollhouse” coming and going without much impact had an obvious effect on his career. It caused even his most faithful fans to re-evaluate his previous work, often in a critical light. I am, of course, getting ahead of myself. While you really have to talk about Whedon's television work to do a proper retrospective of his career, I'll just be focusing on his theatrical credits here. (This is, obviously, my belated conclusion to my wildly out-of-order trip through the Marvel Cinematic Universe too. So I'll be including some bonus reviews too.)

1. Serenity

Before we talk about “Serenity,” one must really discuss “Firefly.” As the second series from Joss Whedon, whose cultishly adored “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” had recently been saved from the grave, it was greeted with a high degree of hype from a certain audience. Yet “Firefly” would be badly mishandled by Fox, who stuck the show in a bad time slot and aired episodes out of order. An insanely passionate fanbase sprung forth to annoy everyone on the internet but it wasn't enough to save the series. Shortly after its cancellation, “Firefly” – including several episodes which never aired – would be released on DVD. At the time, the TV-on-DVD market was booming and “Firefly” would become a big home media seller. It was this successful afterlife that convinced Whedon and Universal Pictures to resurrect “Firefly” as “Serenity,” a movie continuation and Whedon's cinematic directorial debut.

If you're reading this, you know all that already. In 2020, does “Firefly” hold up? The series takes its space western premise – which was doubtlessly influenced by anime series like “Outlaw Star, “ despite Whedon's insistence otherwise – far too literally. Whedon's attempts to paint his protagonists as both morally gray anti-heroes and principled freedom fighters often came off as clumsy. The special effects, action sequences, and general visual approach appear hopelessly cheap and dated now. Knowing what we now know about Whedon's personal life, many of the show's elements – equally revered and humiliated space courtesan Inuara and mentally-ill but super-special teenage girl River – come off as more than a little icky. Yet the characters and cast were great. The dialogue was often memorable. The premise, corniness and all, was a lot fun. When the writing and the cast were aligned, great episodes like “Jaynestown,” “Ariel,” and “Objects in Space” did emerge.

I was less critical of the show when I, then a huge “Buffy” fan, watched it on DVD in 2003. In fact, I loved it. So I was hugely excited for “Serenity” when it hit theaters in autumn of 2005. Perhaps these expectations were why I was so disappointed in “Serenity” at first. But let's summarize the plot first. The crew of the smuggling ship Serenity, veterans of a civil war against a galactic Alliance, is led by the fiercely independent Malcolm Reynolds. For a year now, the Serenity has had Simon and River Tam, fugitives from the Alliance, aboard. River's growing psychic abilities, results of testing by the Alliance, cause a dangerously calculated Operative to pursue. Soon, this chase heads across the universe and leads the crew of the Serenity to uncover the horrible secrets behind the Reavers, the cannibalistic madmen that roam space.

As a feature film,“Serenity” faced some rather unique challenges. “Firefly” was not a ratings success. That's why it was canceled after eleven episodes. “Serenity” had to justify its forty million dollar budget – not enormous but certainly not a pittance either – by expanding outside the cult following and appealing to as wide an audience as possible. At the same time, “Serenity” had to satisfy the hopes and dreams of thousands of die hard “Firefly” fans. It's a dual goal the finished film can't live up to. New viewers were surely baffled by the attention paid to Shepherd Book, a character who wanders in and out of the story with little explanation. The same audience probably couldn't really grasp the will-they-won't-they flirtations between Mal and Inara or Kaylee and Simon. Yet long time fans were likely frustrated by the way those subplots are awkwardly set-up via rushed dialogue. Or the amount of time spent re-introducing the familiar faces. It's a tall order and it's no wonder that “Serenity” has trouble fulfilling it.

If that had been the only challenge facing “Serenity,” maybe the film could've pulled it off. Instead, “Serenity” also had to be the big budget, theatrical debut of a filmmaker who had previously only directed television. After recently re-watching all of “Firefly,” I can say that Whedon's episodes were not the best looking or most cinematic, often utilizing ugly crash-zooms and bland, blanketing lighting. He does try to do better here. “Serenity” has some fantastic production design. The ships, sets, and props all look wonderful, the film clearly having more money at its disposal than the show. The “Blade Runner” inspired urban locations are fittingly atmospheric in presentation. Yet “Serenity” does have unusually murky cinematography, making many of the later scenes hard to follow. At times, such as a “Star Trek”-like shot of a shaking spaceship interior or a sudden zoom on a rotten face, this studio film still looks an awful lot like an episode of weekly TV series.

“Serenity” doesn't just hope to remind people that it's a movie, and not a TV show, in its visual approach. Whedon's script is clearly eager to expand beyond the scope of a television series. “Serenity” opens with a daring escape sequence, depicted in a very action-packed way, how Simon and River initially alluded the Alliance. The film concludes with a massive space battle, set-up by one of the story's few satisfying twist. Yet what Whedon chooses to focus on is sometimes baffling. The decision to turn vulnerable, schizophrenic girl River into a kung-fu fighting, hyper-confident warrior woman still comes out of nowhere. The big reveal of the film's second half, the horrible secret origins of the Reavers, is... Underwhelming. Some dumbass experiment happened, and the space psychoes were an unintended (and nonsensical) side-effect. The origins behind “Firefly's” central monsters, never as scary as the show needed them to be, were better left a mystery.

If some of the choices “Serenity” makes are odd or aggravatingly unexpected, a few of its narrative decisions are outright sadistic. After seven seasons of “Buffy” and five seasons of “Angel,” it became clear that Joss Whedon had a habit of introducing lovable characters and then putting them through merciless hell. This usually climaxed in someone dying in a needlessly mean manner. Because “Serenity” is following a one season wonder, it has to shove a whole season of dramatic deaths into two hours. So two major characters are killed off suddenly. Yes, I know the bluntness of the deaths were precisely the point. That's what happens in war. Yet the glee with which Whedon deploys these heart-crushing murders is felt too keenly. Wash and Shepherd Book don't die because the story needed it. They die because Joss Whedon wanted to shock and infuriate his fans. And then Mal's life is saved by a previously unmentioned war wound, the kind of half-assed deus ex machina Whedon really should've known better than to resort to.

If “Serenity's” narrative choices are sloppy or mean-spirited at times, that's because the film is too determined to pursue its thematic goal. Ya see, “Serenity” is About Something. “Firefly” always flirted with the idea of Mal and his merry band representing independence and freedom in the face of the authoritarian Alliance. (Never mind that the Brown Coats are visually patterned after the Confederacy, bringing to mind some truly unfortunate implications.) “Serenity” takes this idea and never stops running with it. Mal does what he wants, which causes a schism to form between him and Simon early on. The Alliance is so determined to make people follow the rules, they actually created a pacifying gas that made a planet lay down and die. The crew of the “Serenity” are free birds that can't be caged, their actual actions being interrogated in only the most superfacial of ways, standing up against a cartoonishly evil force of tyranny that is barely developed beyond that idea.

Maybe “Serenity” wouldn't have so many of these issues if it wasn't trying to be the second season of “Firefly.” Maybe Whedon simply should've taken one stand alone script and blown it up to feature length. Because the film works best when focusing in on the small stuff. The opening heist, in which Reynolds' gang busts into an Alliance bank and makes off with some gold, is fun. It's the only time “Serenity” feels truly in touch with its western adventure show roots. Another baffling plot point involves River's secret programming being awaken by a television commercial. Yet the colorful weirdness of that scene is something the rest of the film is sorely lacking. “Serenity” shouldn't have been bigger than “Firefly” necessarily. It should've been weirder and wider, while maintaining the humble spirit that made the original series entertaining.

What keeps the film truly functioning is the same thing that often kept Whedon's shows afloat, even during dire plot points like Buffy and Spike boinking or Cordelia's pregnancy turning her evil. That would be the cast. Even though “Serenity” is more about River than Mal, the film still tries to turn Nathan Fillian into an action star. It honestly almost works. Fillian has a gift for comedic dialogue and comical stumbling, yet has the stout chin required of a two-fisted hero. He finds a solid foil in Chiwetel Elijfor as the Operative, a lawful evil adversary of steely focus. Adam Baldwin is also deeply underutilized as Jayne, the brutish mercenary who is essentially reduced to “Serenity's” (consistently hilarious) comic relief. The adorableness of Jewel Stait makes even the film's worst line – about 'lectrics and neithers – a solid laugher.

Yet “Serenity” clearly does struggle to balance its cast. That's why the late, great Ron Glass only gets two scenes as Shepherd Book, one of my favorite characters from the show. One of the regular cast members had to be reduced so the audience wasn't overwhelmed. Morena Baccarin's Inara almost got cut too but the film brings her into the story through a rather awkward plot twist. I can't imagine if a “Firefly” newbie truly had a chance to get attached to Zoe and Wash's loving marriage, considering neither are given much to actually do. (Though Alan Tudyk still gets a couple of great moments.) It's mildly annoying that so much attention is focused on River Tam becoming a wannabe Slayer, as Summer Glau is better served shrieking with madness than kicking ass.

And speaking of kicked asses... Whedon would eventually become the director of billion-dollar grossing action spectacles. Which is sort of funny, as “Buffy” and “Firefly's” action sequences were always modest. You can see the director struggling to adapt to the needs of an action narrative here. The shoot-outs with the Reavers are never as intense as they need to be, guns going off and bad guys falling down off-screen. River's multiple elaborate fisticuffs are slightly better directed, even if her “Kill Bill”-like final stand against the space cannibals is more melodramatic than satisfyingly climatic. An early chase scene with a small Reaver vessal is probably the best action beat in the movie, Jayne pulled overboard by a harpoon. “Serenity's” modest television roots and medium sized budget is evident in many scenes.

Though primed to launch a franchise, “Serenity's” underwhelming box office gross – barely breaking even – did not led to that. Though the Browncoats have constantly, loudly demanded more, the only follow-ups have been in the form of comic books. Here's a hard truth. “Serenity” was never going to be a hit. “Firefly” was not the zeitgeist-capturing cult phenomenon “Buffy” was. It was a niche program with an fanatically devoted, obsessive fan base. It was nice that Universal ponied up the cash necessary for Whedon to give his beloved series something like a proper conclusion. Yet this was never going to cross over with a wide audience. Here's another, even harder truth. “Firefly” was actually better off as a short-lived oddity, allowed to hint at a wider mythology and allowing its true joys – a wonderful cast, a neat setting – just enough time to breath. “Serenity” struggles to please multiple audiences and goals, never quite hitting any of its marks. [Grade: C+]