Serenity

Publisher
Realbuzz Studios
Writer
Buzz Dixon
Artist
Min Kwon
Country of origin
US
Year
2006

Serenity Volume 7 to 10

By David Rasmussen
15th Jun 08

Way back when, while Realbuzz Studios was partners with Barbour Publishing, plans were underway to kickstart the first major spinoff for Serenity. After it’s successful run with the original six volume series (of which the finale review covering Volumes 3 to 6 is coming shortly) the powers that be of Realbuzz that worked on Serenity (Mr. Dixon and Mr. Schulman) were ready to launch “Life! Camera! Action! Starring Serenity” into publishing life… but as you know just prior to the second launch of Realbuzz with Barbour the two companies parted ways and Realbuzz moved in with Thomas Nelson.

So here we are, it’s 2008 and the spin-off series of Serenity (now added onto the original series as the new Volumes 7 to 10) is here and we’re reviewing. Oh, hint… it’s not going to lose points so let’s see if it can go any higher from it’s last score of 4 out of 5.

In “Space Cadet vs. Drama Queen” (Volume 7) we catch the gang coming out of an R rated movie that seems to be an homage to classic sci-fi horror of old (which is totally believable now that we’re seeing a ton of present day directors dig into past glories to find their new inspirations for today’s movies and TV). Bad news, however, as Sally (she of the relative who is a loud order barking Marine drill sarge) is caught by her family outside of the theater and promptly grounded for seeing an R Rated movie… and no, that’s not a Christian thing, lots of people would not like to have their kids of a certain age see R rated movies… odd, though, considering her Marine sarge relative knows language and emotions that makes a fair amount of R rated movies seem tame in comparison.

Of course if the movie was good then it would have been worth it, but for one of the gang (Tim) the movie was not worth being grounded over, paving the groundwork for Serenity to throw down the filmmaking challenge at Tim’s feet and get him to assemble the cast for the first Prayer Club Independent Movie project… “Terror from the Tarantula Nebula”.

And thus the movie is underway and already the drama rages as Sally’s father briefly tries to interfere only to get the law slammed down on him by his wheelchair bound wife… dude, she’s in a wheelchair, not in a coma! Stop ticking her off!! Oh, and then Serenity (who has had about six going on seven volumes to bond with her new Prayer Club friends) realizes she actually wants a bit of limitation in her life, and wants to bond abit more with her strange mom… which leads to a totally freaky crying fit bonding moment when Serenity’s mom springs a leak and starts gushing salty water from her head.

I’ll go into this right now before I describe the movie and move into the next volumes.
Serenity is going to get it’s long awaited perfect score. Why? Because at last “Life! Camera! Action!” fixes the one major flaw I had with the first two volumes of Serenity I reviewed… in that the secondary cast steps forward and makes their presence known.

Previously the cast was lopsided. Serenity, Kimberly, Derek and Sally were mostly the stronger characters with other characters drifting off into the background or only coming forward enough just to fulfill certain scene requirements. Here cast that once filled space and not much else step up and become fully realized cast members with their own quirks, personality and moods. Tim is in part the focus as he leads the gang on these movies, explaining at times how he does the magic of each movie that is underway. Lori (my personal fave of the partially to somewhat ignored cast members from the first series) really shines now, and that is perfect for me since I was always fond of her character to begin with (and that was when there wasn’t much to be fond of to begin with)!

Then there’s new cast that I haven’t seen yet (or would have seen if I was doing my review of Volume 3 to 6 before this) like Sally’s family (including her brothers), and Kimberly’s brothers (who appear from time to time in movies filling in gaps in the cast as monsters or kid brothers or whatnot). This adds more cast to the already strong lineup, and since they really are the backup cast they don’t need to have as much info given on them as the main Prayer Club cast (though you get enough on them to know them).

It’s this stronger present of the full cast (and new to me cast) that really pushes Serenity right up to it’s 5 out of 5 spot with this second release of volumes. Now I really feel like we’re getting to know the whole of the Prayer Club and things are rolling well… oh, and taking a page from Goofyfoot Gurl you are feeling abit less of the religious content than before (focus stronger on the storytelling and message of the story in a way that I can recommend to a lot more people, because while the religious faith based context is still there it’s now -- hmm -- well, it’s far different than before though I feel it’s still the same level and context, just feels different).

So then, after the drama we find Tim feeling rather reluctant to show his movie. He isn’t certain whether it’ll be a hit or not. Judge for thyself as the movie rolls…

“Terror from the Tarantula Nebula”
(Ask Tim about the 1001 other movie scripts he’s got in his basement!)
In this sci-fi movie we find the crew of an exploratory vessel engaged in a rescue mission when the life pod of a friendly alien race (the Klappon) is discovered. This leads them to land on a strange Earth like world deep in uncharted space.

The world, a long dead testament to a race wiped out in it’s prime, hides a couple of secrets in it’s ruined cities and seemingly mindless creatures roaming the planet’s surface (overrun by the advance of nature swallowing whole devastated cities).

Yes, the secret is probably not going to shock you (Sally is evil, the “monsters” are good, and the civilization’s ruin was all in the venue of a Doctor Who style plot involving an invasion of hyper intelligent creatures that look like space tarantulas -- aka Serenity’s pet tarantula “Tinkerbelle” was used as a “stunt double”) but it’s still good enough for another movie (or three) and the start of a beautiful Independent film career!

So you just started your independent film career, now what?
How about mix a disaster movie premise with a set piece from Escape from New York slash LA and make Kimberly into Kurt Russell’s twin?

“Sunday Best” features the second independent film of the gang, “Crawling from the Wreckage” in which kids are trapped in a giant mall in the aftermath of an earthquake, and it’s up to their sisters to save them (while keeping them safe from a local gang of thugs out to rob the mall’s high rent expensive jewelry stores during the chaos post quake).

But the drama is not just in the movie, it’s also in the real life happening about the movie.
Serenity continues to want some focus in her life, and begins to read the bible more (which promptly burns out every brain cell in Lori’s head at the revelation… shocking!!)
After a little confusion over the whole “turn thy cheek” then “stab out your enemy’s eye” (though not the “love thy neighbor, then hate thy gay neighbor” contradiction) Serenity decides to take her next step to becoming a Christian… she has to go to church. So out comes the Sunday best (and stop fretting, Serenity! You look simply MAHVERLOUS!!)

(No, really, not being sarcastic! You look great! Stop worrying too much!)

After that the gang heads over to help the local fire dept. clean up the local prayer club summer camp after heavy rains, which could lead to a premature ending to the series as Serenity finds herself trapped underwater while trying to clear debris, near death!

That’s when a mysterious firefighter saves her, only for her to find out that firefighter didn’t exist… or did he?

That problem perplexes her right into “Choosing Change”, the third volume.
So then, who saved Serenity? Was it…

a) Serenity (and she made it all up in her mind)
b) God
c) An angel sent by God?
d) The spirit of a deceased firefighter still rescuing people to this day from the afterlife? (which doesn’t discount the whole god thing but it doesn’t have to be a totally dramatic thing for it to be divine intervention you know!)

Too bad the focus on Serenity’s savior, not to mention the making of the third movie, all fall to the wayside so that Eddie can discover the joys of dating women… sigh.

Oh, and the movie this volume is “Esther, Queen of Persia”, the required biblical epic. Double mocha latte sigh. (Just be glad I ain’t docking you a point on this one, title.)
Oh, and at the end of the volume Serenity suddenly becomes a Christian… yeah, if you think you’re shocked imagine how she feels.

Volume 10 picks up where that leaves off and resolves it (to a point, though I am sure having Volume 11 and up and the continuing story of newly Christian Serenity making her way through her newly found faith would be a great help too). In this volume I can tell you that Serenity undergoes a major overhaul of her closet, room, image, appearance… but is it really a major change or is it all superficial? Hmm, after the shocking revelation that Serenity is now an official Christian who can say? (Though I did have a feeling she wasn’t quite feeling it when Volume 9 wrapped up). Also I suppose maybe it’s not a major confidence builder to have the fourth (and final for now) movie being made a remake of Frankenstein… so, then, WHAT’S the monster in this movie again? I’m sure it’s not a bash down on genetic cloning so -- say what? Really?? (Anyway since this is a major turning point volume no clues to it’s content for you past what I said, read for yourself).

OK let’s bring this one down and wrap it up (like a Christmas gift)!
The cast stands out and really shines now in full! Now it’s like “No Secondary Character Left Behind” has been established and the cast is now really shining now. Didn’t like how the dating story plot of Volume 9 interrupted the flow of the reality to movie sequence, and I can’t tell you about Volume 10 until the future when the third series comes out (since it’s a major turning point volume) but things are now finally to a point where I can say Serenity has earned it’s kudos in spade now without a doubt from me to you.

So there you go! Kudos to Serenity, you get the score you’ve always wanted.
Solid writing, solid artwork (looks like a major improvement over the first series), and an overall balanced casting makes this one finally reach the pinnacle of it’s scoring potential.
Serenity Volume 7 to 10 gets it’s due, and scores five Film Festival awards out of five.
Now let’s see if Volume 11 and up can hold onto this score, even though the next review will be a flashback to series 1 (Volume 3 to 6), stay tuned.

-- David Rasmussen 15th Jun 08