2081

Exciting, but not as clever and interesting as the Firefly series. ( )

Not as good as the series.

I actually started crying when I saw it in the theatre, Whedon is good at causing emotional reactions. ( )

Space fugitives have government secrets.

There are moments of greatness, and moments of embarrassingly bad crap. But even if the crap weren't there, the great bits still wouldn't come together into a coherent movie.

Concept: D
Story: D
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: D
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: B
Acting: C
Music: C

Enjoyment: C plus

GPA: 1.9/4 ( )

The film Serenity was an attempt to reboot the short-lived television series Firefly that lasted less than a season. Unfortunately, the film didn't do good box office, and since the film the series has only been kept alive through comics. (The comic "Those Left Behind" and "Better Days" filled in what happened between the television episodes and the film. "The Shepherd's Tale" tells us the story we never got about Shepherd Book.) Unfortunate, as far as I'm concerned, because both the series and film are favorites; I think they're brilliant. And fairly unique--a combination of Western and Space Opera, of American and Chinese cultures. The good thing at least is that the film is both enjoyable on its own merits as well as giving closure to the series, solving the most intriguing riddle of the series--the origin and nature of "the Reavers" as well as resolving much of the mystery around River Tam. The DVD adds quite a lot of value in its commentary that gives interesting insights into the making of the film and creative choices and techniques. (And particularly explaining one creative choice that hit a lot of fans hard.) Highly recommended, although I think the series should be watched first. ( )