Serenity
There are two movies out there calledSerenity . One was acclaimed by critics and audiences alike and has become a religious cult classic . The other has beenravaged by criticsand had a record - Sir David Low box office gap for its A - list star . The former was the moving picture adaptation of the short - lived television receiver seriesFirefly .
PREVIOUSLY:The Most Brutal Reviews of Serenity
The latter is a new drama write and direct byPeaky Blinderscreator Steven Knight , and due to its divisive nature , it could go one of two way of life : it ’ll either get cross under the carpeting and leave forever or be re - evaluated by a cult audience of its own . Before the world makes up its mind , here are 5 Reasons Why Fans Love The Movie ( And 5 reason Why They detest It ) .
HATE: THE MELODRAMA
It ’s not unacceptable to make a drama motion picture that does n’t devolve into a sodden , schmaltzy , trite , melodramatic mess . In 2018 alone , we hadA Star is BornandRomaandThe Hate U GiveandGreen BookandBoy Erasedshowing us how it ’s done . And then we haveSerenity , which has the dramatic depth of a soap opera house .
critic have already draw parallels withCollateral BeautyandThe Book of Henry – two other dramas that were anchored with major Hollywood stars and surround by honor bombilation whose soapy melodrama turn out to be the fundamental flaw that head to their failure .
LOVE: THE CAST
Whatever viewers thought of the script or the directing or the motion-picture show as a whole , it ’s unimaginable to deny thatSerenityhas a great cast . It reunitesInterstellarstarsMatthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway(even if Hathaway ’s character is write as a sorely cartoonish and two - dimensional femme fatale ) as the central duo , while Diane Lane and Jason Clarke cater hearty reinforcement .
These actors ca n’t carry through the feeble duck script , but they do give it their all , and as always , they are watchable in their role . But then the same could be said of most bad motion picture star talented thespian .
HATE: THE FINAL ACT
The concluding routine of a movie is theorise to be the most exciting . It ’s when the Rebels bluster up the Death Star or Ripley confront the xenomorph or Brody stuffs a Aqua-Lung tank in the shark ’s sassing and spud it . However , Serenity ’s final act is also its featherbrained , which is the last thing you want in a closed book moving-picture show .
It ’s almost unbearable . Critic Tim Brennan might have put it well : “ During the last half 60 minutes , the picture show does n’t just go off the rails ; it score a mountain , blow up , and the fiery wreckage strikes a heap full of nuns and orphans , also causing them to irrupt . ”
LOVE: THE UNPREDICTABILITY
While the plot of ground twist can be seen issue forth a mi off , as it ’s hinted at even in the opening shot and unsubtly signposted throughout the whole story , the pic itself in unpredictable . It starts off as a modernistic - day cinema noir with a Greco-Roman everyman and femme fatale involved in a mysterious and intriguing setup .
But then it takes a drastic left good turn . While we can see this fall , what we ca n’t see come is the tonal shift that comes along with it . It becomes a unlike movie entirely – its genre change . How many movies can you name that have done that ?
HATE: ITS DEPICTION OF DOMESTIC ABUSE
domesticated ill-usage is a very serious subject , so if you ’re going to tackle it in a movie that ’s meant to be amusement , you have to be very careful in how you picture it . Unfortunately , that is not whatSteven Knightdid when he madeSerenity .
His treatment of the frail and serious subject of domestic violence is so ham - fisted and unrealistic that it ’s more likely to make your eyes pluck than shock you . Serenityis likeSleeping with the EnemymeetsReady Player One . The Honeymoonersgives a more honest depiction of the repugnance of domestic ill-treatment .
LOVE: IT HAS TO BE SEEN TO BE BELIEVED
Serenityis so completely cracked and out there that it has to be catch to be believed . You have to take in the movie for cover that it even exist in the first place . In that sentiency , it ’s the cinematic equivalent of a leprechaun .
But how can that be a unfit affair ? If , like a train wreck , you both do n’t desire to look and ca n’t look forth while the movie is play , then surely that ’s a good thing . Cinema is all about the experience , and if something has to be seen to be believe , then it must be quite the experience .
HATE: ANNE HATHAWAY’S CHARACTER
Anne Hathaway is one of those pic stars who is constantly catch flak . She ’s know as one of the most hated stars in Hollywood , and yet no one really knows the reason for this . With the correct function , whether that ’s Andy Sachs inThe Devil Wears Pradaor Selina Kyle inThe Dark Knight spring up , she can be a fantastical actor .
Her role inSerenityhas clear been written by Steven Knight with the classic femme fatales of the cinema noir in mind , a character you do n’t know if you may bank . But as one critic has already pointed out , she ’s closer to Jessica Rabbit than Phyllis Dietrichson .
LOVE: THE ORIGINALITY
Love it or hate it , Serenityis an original pic . It ’s rarified these days that we see original account at all . Everything is an version or a reboot or a continuation . But this is not only an original story with original characters – it has its own genre . You would be hard pressed to discover a movie that ’s anything likeSerenity .
It can be savor purely for its existence . Science fabrication elements are brought into this noir - ish , seemingly grounded fib of a quaint fisher – no one ’s expecting that . It might just beSerenity ’s originality that has made so many viewers reject it . Perhaps it will be appreciate as an underrated chef-d’oeuvre in a few years when everyone ’s had time to wrap their heads around it . It ’s never a tough matter to try something young .
HATE: THE PLOT TWIST
The best game twists industrial plant seeds and confidential information before the big reveal , butthe plot twist inSerenityis such an mad left turn that it does n’t make as a rug - wrench . It does n’t make the viewer scream out , “ Oh my God ! ” in excitement ; it make them moan , “ Huh … ? ” in mix-up . The twist ( SPOILER alerting ! ) is that Matthew McConaughey ’s character has been dead the whole sentence and he ’s in reality exist in a picture biz being play by his sadistic Logos .
Yeah , it ’s that stupid and incongruous . It ’s a plot twist befit an abysmal episodeBlack Mirror . No paying moviegoer merit that .
LOVE: IT’S SO BAD IT’S GOOD
Serenityis so misguided and poorly made thatit can be enjoyed for its dreadfulness . It ’s not on equality with the likes ofThe RoomorBattlefield Earthon the so - bad - it’s - good scale , but it is in that park . The plot is so out - of - this - world ridiculous and yet so predictable that the movie is a special kind of dreadful .
It has major picture show stars charge wholeheartedly to characters who make such stupid conclusion that it almost work as a clowning . According to the New York Observer ’s review , the consultation in the critics ’ screening was “ melt off to hysterics . ”Serenityis that beautiful sort of uncollectible celluloid that can be enjoy if viewed through the correct satiric lens .
NEXT:Matthew McConaughey & Anne Hathaway Interview: Serenity
