Yeehah! It’s the wild west in outer space

SERENITY Directed by Joss Whedon
Certificate 15

IT’S the wild west out in space with dialogue that cracks a whip and packs in more action, intelligence and innovation than James Bond ever could – that’s director Joss (Buffy The Vampire Slayer) Whedon’s labour of love sci-fi adventure Serenity.
Based on the characters from his cult TV show Firefly this is a fast-paced, cunning, clever and funny – and yes, must-see – science fiction fantasy has a cast that couldn't be bettered, namely, Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Jewel Staite, Adam Baldwin, Alan Tudyk, Summer Glau, Chewitel Ejiofor (who also stars in Kinky Boots – the man is everywhere).
Driven by character interaction, the plot is carried along by personalities which are easily charted but always surprising.
Baldwin’s macho guy Jayne, for example, is a shoot-first-and-say-something-stupid kind of crew member while Alan Tudyk (I Robot) is the dinosaur-loving, funny and endearing husband/pilot to the gorgeous Gina Torres, the ship’s right hand ‘man’.
Jewel Staite is more charming than the late James Doohan’s Scotty ever could be as the ship's sparkly-eyed engineer who has an unashamed eye for the menfolk as she quips, “been more’n a year since I had anything twixt my nethers didn't run on batteries”.
This coherent band of space salvagers endure wild and woolly situations that could only happen in the swirls of renegade outer space – if that outer space was Monument Valley.
In an interview, Whedon said the whole idea for Serenity was what would have happened if The Force hadn’t caught Luke Skywalker – and that makes for a sci-fi film that’s streets ahead of the nearest competition, hellish great fun to watch and visually too fast with too much going on for the older generation.
In short, Serenity is a classic already. It is what Star Wars should have been and what Star Trek almost was.
Think of a John Wayne western in deep space with an engine room chick, a hooker and one heroic married couple under a captain who’s tough but fair.
Even if science fiction isn’t your genre, keep up with the space programme. Buy a ticket and see Serenity.

Also showing

Night Watch (Nochnoi Dozor)
A promising Russian science-fiction thriller directed by Timur Bekmambetov swims with murky, glossy, dark visuals and a freaky, virtually nonsensical plot involving the forces of good versus evil. Alas, fantastic effects cannot save a film devoid of human interest – and there are two more of these in the pipeline.

Kinky Boots
Calendar Girls and The Full Monty need not worry about this potentially sexy but ultimately safe story of a young Northerner (Joel Edgerton, looking for the world like a young Albert Finney) who fights for the life of his unprofitable shoe factory with help from a large drag queen (Chiwetel Ejiofar). Based on a true story, this film looks great – production values are immaculate – but the plot shifts are too abrupt for pleasure. Warning: you will want to buy footwear afterwards.

Rag Tale
Noted mainly for its near-nauseating hand-held camera work and machine-gun editing, this stiff and predictable satire of a fictional British tabloid stars Malcolm McDowell, Simon Callow and Ian Hart. Plot points include cheating on the big newspaper magnet and a cocaine habit that threatens to undermine everything. A woman in the viewing basement at the Edinburgh Film Festival fast-forwarded through this, but has some beautiful moments in the (apparently ad-libbed) dialogue between journalists.

Saraband
The great Ingmar Bergman’s final film features Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson as a couple who come back together after three decades apart. A beautiful, meticulous analysis of family festerings, forbidden possible associations and heavy emotion hanging in an airless room. Quite wonderful really.

We Jam Econo: The Story Of The Minutemen
A documentary about the fabled punk band from California. If you don’t know anything about the band, you will learn via interviews from band members and others, including the ubiquitous Henry Rollins. For fans only, this is a nicely made doco about the brief life of one of the pivotal punk groups stateside.

Pick of the indies

Everything
Writer and director Richard Hawkins made his name with the script for ‘The Theory Of Flight’ and now has fashioned an astonishing directorial debut made in the face of a British film industry in crisis on a budget of under £50,000 and shot under ten days – a major miracle.
Ray Winstone stars as a man who visits a prostitute (Jan Graveson) nine times in as many days without asking for sex.
He’s a police detective, not in great shape, but with an agenda. Naomi (Graveson) is experienced in her job but still can’t quite figure out what this man wants as he snubs her usual chat-ups and flees.
First time jitters? The beauty of Everything is that despite its familiar territory and its tendency to swing into expected voyeurism, the performers are do their bit which in turn lets the script live through them.
Ignore the tell-tale handheld camera jolts which remain a ready reminder of the lack of time and money available for this tale.
Winstone is magnificent as the mysterious if not downright annoying copper who can’t spit it out while Graveson turns in one of those ‘revelatory’ turns which should transform her career.

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