Maybe better as a web series?*SPOILERS*
I saw the film at Dragon Con this past weekend, and I was a bit disappointed.
Let me just say that I absolutely commend these guys for their dedication, hard work, and being the first of several to actually FINISH a Firefly/Serenity fan project. I do not want to distract from the amazing commitment these people had to raise money for charity and dedicate themselves to the love of the 'verse. It is very inspiring.
However, I couldn't sit through the whole movie at Dragon Con, and had to come home and watch it in pieces online. There were definitely certain things I expected, the acting was mediocre save for the actor who plays "Pete Chen." She was on her mark, and fairly enjoyable to watch. Everyone else seemed amateur, but it may have been fault to a lack of direction? Even still, it was not necessarily bad acting, and I could have easily gotten past it and enjoyed the story, if there was much of a story to enjoy. For a film that pays homage to a Joss Whedon project, Whedon who is known for his strong female characters, I felt the two women in this film were sorely lacking in character. The strongest running theme in the entire film is their bickering for what seems to be no other reason then they are both female and have a lot of attitude (at one point, Captain Laura just straight up decks a mouthy Petra in the face and then turns back around to her conversation like nothing happened.) To be clear, there is a very distinct difference between strong women, and women with a lot of 'tude, and just to re-enforce this, her crew is constantly questioning her authority on how she deals with the new pilot. She may have the love of her crew, but she doesn't seem to have their respect. Then, I find out the Captain was a battered woman, and that is the reason she is living the life she is living? To get away from an abusive husband? Jeez... this plot keeps getting thinner and more cliche.
There was very little creativity. I feel they decided to play it very safe and follow the Serenity formula, same characters, just switch up the jobs and the genders.
The reason I think this would have been better as a web series is how green the film making was. The quality was not great, the sets were not well lit, and most importantly there was no action in the shots. The shots went back and forth, rarely, between two, MAYBE three, wide shot set ups. There was a lot of long, boring scenes with no music (at one point, we watch them set the entire table with no dialogue and no music). I don't believe there was one close up the entire time, and there was ONE over the shoulder shot. This made things very unappealing to look at. It just doesn't work for a feature length film.
I appreciate the film maker's ambition, but I feel this project was just a little too big for their first run and their lack of experience. I learned a lot from watching the film, and hope this constructive criticism lends a little insight to anyone who is looking to do Firefly/Serenity fan fic in the future. I do hope to see more!
And to the film makers of Browncoats: Redemption, I feel going back and doing some pick up shots, doing some sound design (loud ambient sound during certain shots and not of others in the same scene threw it off), and adding more music would really help this film along. Lastly, thank you for all your hard work in raising money for the wonderful charity organizations the proceeds are dedicated too!