Serenity Movie Review:


Drawing inspiration from “Star Wars,” various Westerns and, in one scene, “Blade Runner,” “Serenity” is a bold and entertaining movie in its own right, presenting a story that is probably ludicrous, but you’ll enjoy yourself too much to notice. Imagine the bits of the original Star Wars you loved the most, the broken space ships, the wicked one liners, the heroes that were as likely to shoot first as not and you’ll get a good sense of what to expect within. You’ll care and root for these guys. Could you really say the same of Episodes I – III?

Joss Whedon, known as the creator of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel” and “Firefly,” the cult TV series that the movie is based on, directs “Serenity”. I confess to never having seen “Firefly,” and rarely having seen “Buffy” or “Angel,” so I walked in to the movie with few preconceived notions, and was pleasantly surprised by the entertainment the movie provides. No doubt there’s tons within that ties up the loose ends of the TV show, but it matters not a jot for those without any previous experience of the show.

The movie tells the story of a band of renegades who, 500 years in the future, go from planet to planet pulling off heists. They are rebelling against the Alliance, which is the government in control of the universe. The crew is made up of the captain, Mal (Nathan Fillion), a few co-renegades, a doctor (Sean Maher) and the doctor’s sister, River (Summer Glau) who, being a psychic, the government was trying to train as a fighter; at the movie’s opening, her brother rescues her from their evil grasp. She wonders around with wide eyes for much of the movie, predicting stuff and occasionally going into insane-fighting-machine mode, which can be a bit awkward.

Meanwhile, a worker for the Alliance, known as The Operator, and played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, is hunting the crew. Ejiofor also stars in the soon to be released “Kinky Boots” as a transvestite. Here he uses a similar gentle nature in a completely opposite role that adds even more menace to the character.

The CGI in the movie is impressive without showing off, although slightly longer shots of the impressive visuals would have been appreciated. And how often can you say that about CG? The camerawork has a sense of fun, such as at the very start when we zoom through the letters of the Universal logo that sets up the premise of the movie beautifully.

One of the best choices the movie makes it to use largely the same cast as the television show; the obvious camaraderie that the show created with the characters translates well, and all power to Whedon for not replacing his relative unknowns
with stars. As it is, everyone is well suited to their roles, particularly Alan Tudyk (whom you may remember as Steve the lunatic Pirate from “Dodgeball”) and Jewel Staite, who has the cutest face to grace the screen in many a moon.

“Serenity,”does follow the usual conventions of sci-fi adventure movies, this is where Whedon’s writing skills kick in, finding new ways of subtly twisting well worn elements, such as the relationship between Mal and the Operator. Our nominal good guy and bad guy which as you're well aware is usually black and white with little room for any kind of shade. Thankfully that isn’t the case here. The Operator may not be a terribly nice person, but he believes so strongly in his convictions that you develop a certain sympathy for him, even without quite understanding him. All the more delicious to watch.

A lot of people will compare “Serenity” to “Star Wars,” but Whedon has delivered the proverbial kick up the arse that that trilogy so badly needed. Sure, both have the same sources: westerns, adventures and old serials. It follows reliable old conventions without seeming too formulaic; even the ancient lines are more fun in this movie than in the other dozens you’ve heard them in. At one point, a character shouts, ‘She’s sealed off the bridge!’ Uh oh. You always know things are in trouble when the bridge gets mentioned.

If you thought that the new “Star Wars” trilogy was bogged down by joyless, dull dialogue and a general lack of excitement, you may find that “Serenity” is just what you’re looking for. Joss Whedon has the same sort of determined ambition as the young George Lucas. “Serenity” cares about its characters and puts them in exciting and imaginative situations. It’s a lot of fun.

Adam Whyte

Shows get cancelled every year, and even though there are fans, not much fuss is made. When a sci-fi show is cancelled it is something different entirely. These fans are so dedicated, and perhaps a little obsessed, that they often must be appeased. When the show Firefly was cancelled enough fuss was made so that Joss Whedon was allowed to continue the story in the new sci-fi action film, Serenity. Never having seen the show, I cannot say whether Whedon was able to live up to Firefly, but what he was able to do was make an action packed, if not slightly long-winded, film with plenty of interesting characters.

Serenity begins like so many other sci-fi films, with a picture of the world which no longer can support human life. This causes a war, which has ended by the time we come into the story. After being on the losing side of the galactic war, all Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) has left are his ship, Serenity, and his crew. Together the group of misfits and outcasts fly around taking jobs which may or may not be legal. They don’t mind performing these tasks until they take on the passenger Simon Tom, who works as a doctor until they agree to free his sister, River, from a secret experiment within The Alliance. As soon as they have her they find themselves hunted down by a hired assassin who will do anything to retrieve secrets River may be holding in her memory.

The crew is made up with such an assortment of fun characters that there is no heavy reliance on any one actor, which seems to have handicapped other star driven films. Each character is given their moment, mostly because they are known by many fans from the television show. For this reason many fans may be shocked to see how dramatic the decisions Whedon has made are. There is more at stake within the world of Serenity than most sci-fi films allow, for fear of upsetting the extremely dedicated fans. It seems that Whedon realized it was do or die time.

There is no shortage of action within Serenity, and there is also time allowed for proper character development and moral choices to be made. The problem is that with all of these things allowed for in the script the film ends up slightly longer than one would expect for an action film. This may be great news for fans who can’t get enough of the story, but it may also turn away casual theater goers who aren’t willing to spend over two hours just seeing cool space action.

There is certainly room left for more films in this series, and fans will most definitely encourage it, but I’m not positive that there is a great deal left to be done after Serenity. All guns come out blazing in this film and I can’t imagine that a sequel would be able to match the intensity, especially without become lengthier. It seems that the story has been wrapped up just enough to make everything right for the unfortunate cancellation of an obviously adored television show.



Ryan Izay

When Fox television cancelled the short-lived TV series, “Firefly” many of us mourned. But it was probably more the network’s fault than it was the ratings for the cancellation of the show. How are you supposed to hook viewers when you begin with the second episode and never show any of the show in its proper order? I don’t know what network genius thought up that strategy up but I hope he’s been sacked.

What is kind of sad is that the same thing seems to be plaguing the movie version of the series. The studio is already screaming they have a franchise and that this could be the next “Star Wars” or “Star Trek”. You also have to realize this is the same studio who said the same thing about “Chronicles of Riddick” and “Hulk”.

Underneath this promotional quagmire actually does beat the heart of a gifted writer who knows how to bring the unexpected and deliver it with some of the cleverest dialogue in any genre. The man’s name is Joss Whedon and he is more than worthy of pulling off basically the same as what Gene Roddenberry did back in the late 1970s. Bringing his own creation back from extinction in a bigger and bolder way.

“Serenity” reunites nine of the key cast members from the short-lived show and delivers them back onto their decaying cargo ship called “Serenity”. One of the ships crew members, River (Summer Glau) is wanted by an elite branch of the government who believes she is a lethal weapon whose telepathic powers hold the key to unlocking a most sinister secret. The government’s lead assassin (Chiwetel Ejiofor) will stop at nothing to bring River in. The problem with his plan is that Captain Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) is just to stubborn to let him have her without a fight.

“Serenity” builds off the strong ensemble cast as Whedon is able to open up the world of “Firefly” and really show what his new universe really looks like. He has always delivered clever dialogue and always does the unexpected, this is evident throughout the film as it impacts the audience every step of the way.

I had some problems with the film’s first half and wondered if a television “boy-wonder” like Whedon could pull off a huge feature film. The first half doesn’t flow, has some very deep valleys and doesn’t really find its footing. I know part of it was about bringing in an audience who hasn’t seen the series but it was so jumbled.

After the return of Inara (Morena Baccarin) and ship’s pitstop on her planet, the film takes off and doesn’t look back. It was almost like a different kind of film. I was amazed at how Whedon was able to blend so much into the second half. The second half is definitely worth the wait for newbies and browncoats alike.

“Serenity” is probably the next great cinematic sci-fi experience but this time let’s give it a chance. I hope they heard me, this time.



So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

After running low profile, small jobs in the region of the outer planets Capt. Mal Reynolds (Fillion) and the crew of the Firefly class spaceship Serenity have managed to keep themselves off the radar of the Alliance. The main reason for avoiding any Federal presence is two of their passengers,
Simon (Maher) and his sister River (Glau). After breaking River out of a Federal research facility, Simon instantly made his sister and himself their most wanted fugitives and Parliament has sent its most dangerous operative (Ejiofor) to track her down which puts the whole of the Serenity crew in great peril.

In their infinite wisdom Fox TV cancelled Joss Whedon’s ‘Firefly’ after only fifteen episodes in 2002 but now the so-called failure is heading to the big screen.

Gaining huge successes with the TV series ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and spin off show ‘Angel’ but the failure of ‘Firefly’ is the only blotch on Joss Whedon’s televisual résumé. Despite critical acclaim and positive reaction from fans, the low audience figure for the shows first run lead to
Fox wielding the axe. Three years later the crew of the ‘Serenity’ are back.

After becoming a cult classic on DVD and syndicated television, building a huge following of fans, Universal decided to give Joss Whedon the chance to say thank you to them and introduce everyone else to his vision of the future. The good news is that Whedon and his team have made this so that you haven’t had to have seen the series to follow what is going on but for those of you who have, the film is an absolute joy.

Set five hundred years in the future, ‘Serenity’ continues the story of Capt. Mal Reynolds and his rag, tag set of smugglers and thieves who scrape
a living on the outer rim taking the jobs that no one else would touch. This is a future that isn’t all shiny technology, federations, aliens and lasers but one more similar to the Old West than anything that we usually see in science fiction. With spaceships replacing wagon trains, the universe of ‘Serenity’ fells more realistic in as they really do travel on
the frontier.

All of your favourite characters return for the big screen outing. Nathan Fillion is Mal Reynolds, the ex-independence soldier turned freighter captain. He is the strong rouge, partial to taking risks but fiercely protective of his crew and friends, like a certain other famous galactic smuggler. Gina Torres is his first officer Zoe, who served under him during
the war between the Independence and the Alliance. Still a soldier to the end, Zoe only steps out of her military persona when she is with her
husband Walsh, Serenity’s extremely gifted pilot played by the excellent Alan Tudyk. The muscle of the crew is Jayne, played by Adam Baldwin. Always hungry for a fight, Jayne has his favourite gun ready at all time for the riskier jobs the crew take on. Kaylee is the heartbeat of the ship. Played
by Jewel Staite, she is Serenity’s engineer and the only one who can keep the ship going. Companion Inara, played by the stunningly beautiful and
talented Morena Baccarin, brings some class and dignity to the ship but Mal and she never really see eye to eye. Simon and River, portrayed by Sean
Maher and Summer Glau, are passengers along for the ride. Ex-Alliance doctor Simon brings his expertise to the ship but his sister River is a
whole different story. Add to this a short but welcome appearance from Ron Glass as Shepherd Book and a menacing performance and a menacing villainous performance from British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and you have a fantastic ensemble cast.

‘Serenity’ succeeds on every level as a quality piece of science fiction. With an excellent story, engaging characters and visuals that can compete
with any film in the genre with a far greater budget, this is not just a joy for ‘Firefly’ fans but a great movie on its own. While the film is action packed, it is Joss Whedon intelligent script and characterisations that draw you in from the off. Switching from moments of comedy to tragic
drama, this shows that Whedon has a real gift for storytelling that is currently lacking in Hollywood today. ‘Serenity’ is not just a gift to ‘Firefly’ fans but an exceptional science fiction movie.

Jamie Kelwick

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