Serenity

Mankind had left Earth for a new solar system with dozens of planets and hundreds of moons. The inner most planets had formed the Alliance, and conquered the outer Independent planets in a destructive war. Mal (Nathan Fillion) and his ragtag band of former rebels are living on the edge of survival. Simon had bought his way on board and rescued sister River from a government facility. She's a secret experiment with psychic powers and hidden memories of a deadly government secret.

This is the follow up to the short-lived cult TV show Firefly. Although it's not absolutely necessary to know the TV show to understand the movie, it would help to get the feel of the group dynamics. The relationships are what gives the movie its emotions. The characters are pretty easily decipherable. Nevertheless, their backstories would help.

This has the Joss Whedon touches. It has the fast talking inside jokes of a Scooby gang. That's what makes this fun. The CGI is not the absolute top rate, but he makes up for it with inventive energy. The random craziness of the big space battle is something that Star Wars can only aspire to. In fact, Mal is Han Solo. Imagine if Star Wars centered on Han Solo, and you've got this movie.

My husband and I first saw this movie after just reading these excellent reviews and not knowing anything else about the movie or characters. We are both sci-fi fans.

I must say, we were a little puzzled about the great reviews. We thought the one-liners were kind of cheesy, the acting a bit poor, and we weren't at all impressed (except for maybe the fight scenes with River). The cowboy theme music didn't sit well with us either.

However, I have heard only excellent things about the series Firefly and the following movie Serenity. Were we missing something? We even watched Serenity again giving it a second chance. It still didn't click with us. I was very confused.

We were going to give up when a friend loaned us the Firefly DVDs. OK, I'll give it another shot since clearly we *must* be missing something! And that did it.

After just a couple episodes I was really enjoying myself. When I re-watched Serenity again after seeing the TV series, I thought it was excellent. I really appreciated it. The characters were more 3D, the one-liners were amusing, the music didn't bother me a bit (I was starting to like it), and I really liked all the nuances from the actors (I changed my mind - not bad acting). I felt like I knew the characters and story so much better and I really loved how they tied some loose ends together. It was also nice to see the characters again after the series ended (even on DVD).

So bottom line - if you didn't watch Firefly, you probably won't get it, may not like it very much, and you might be confused why there are such great reviews. If you did watch Firefly first (and liked it), you'll love Serenity and you'll have a great ride!

***NO SPOILERS*** I saw the movie at a sneak preview in Houston, TX on 6/23/05. I was just happy that we were getting more of these characters and this setting.

Visually, it was stunning. The extra budget for effects was well spent. The characters and their relationships were recognizable, but there had been changes from the show. I think this was necessary within the movie, and part of an evolution from the TV show to the big screen (the movie takes place 6 months after the last episode, "Objects in Space"). Things have changed.

There is a higher action and violence level in this (duh, it's a movie, not on TV), and we get some major revelations about the world (which some who saw it with me already don't like). There are some MAJOR events that affect the characters, and I wasn't totally happy with them - shocked is the word. But this is Joss's world, and his characters, and he tells the stories he wants to tell. He doesn't get bound up in hurting our feelings; he just tells it like it is. I believe he did say that this was the hardest thing he'd ever had to write.

At least one person at our screening was a "Firefly virgin," and he said that he liked it. I hope people who have no exposure to the show will be able to see this and enjoy it. Our big damn heroes come across well, and I hope this will get them some well-deserved exposure. This is a no-holds barred, big-time action/adventure sci-fi story, bold and raw, and set in a world unlike anything portrayed in SF before (well, except for "Firefly"). And I hope it does really, really well, and we get to see the sequels.

The others do a good job gushing about the movie. Sure we're fans and bound to like the movie more than the usual fare, but those looking for an original and thrilling movie experience, this will shock and amaze. The Firefly world introduced a fantasy home for many of us, with characters we truly cared about and dilemmas we could get behind. The best way to describe it is to take the best aspects of the Han Solo elements of the original Star Wars, and build a world around that. There's no grand theme or clear cut good and evil. There's just a band of fugitives trying to make their way in a dangerous sky. It's something folks can relate to, although most of us won't be in a space battle or fighting psychotic creatures anytime soon. The point of the name Serenity is the name of the ship, though in a deeper sense that's what our characters are in search of. Finding freedom and a home, and that's what the ship represents to them, and to the fans. So you understand why so many are so excited about this dinky little scifi flick.

The movie captures that beautiful feeling but takes us on a ride that there's no turning back from. In my opinion, the one thing that makes for a truly GREAT movie is if you walk out of the theater a different person than when you walked in. This movie takes you on such a journey I didn't know if I would leave the theater at all. Sure the visual effects are stunning, but even the unfinished effects I saw meant nothing to me because it was the characters I cared about (and note that the digitally created ship itself is one of them, and I cared just as much for that than any of them). The humor is probably better than anything in the theaters this year, and the action is even greater. My screening actually came a week after Episode 3 was released, and I immediately washed my hands of Mr Lucas, and months later when I saw Fantastic 4... well let's not even talk about that one.

This movie really does have something for everyone, and even in the core of the geek fandom, the range of people is total - men and women split it at least 50/50, uber-geeks and "cool" types, and a surprising amount of attractive people of all ages. Seriously though, don't trust the rants of the fans. Check out the movie for yourself. Give it an honest chance and I promise you will be taken on a journey that will turn you into a fan as well.

This film was recommended as one of the classic must-see sci-fi films, so I gave it a go. For its low budget and available visual/special effects for its time, this was an impressive endeavor, to the point where I'm now going to binge on the series. Huge props to Joss Whedon for never giving up with all the limitations he had from both Fox for the series, and Universal for this movie. The 119 min runtime was used impressively with spot-on snappy pacing. Bearing in mind I have never seen or heard of the Firefly series, the story was fluid and coherent and really well told. I was however lost with some of the dialogue and futuristic western lingo the cast were using, but I'm guessing had I seen the series first, I'd understand it better. Overall everything about this film was impressive and I now understand its following. Seeing there are many old series and films being revived, this would be a great candidate for a comeback. I just hope if it does, Whedon is given a proper budget without creative restraints.