Serenity - October 2005

I had high hopes for "Serenity," a movie based on a short-lived TV series called "Firefly." I enjoy watching "Firefly" and a big screen version of a favorite TV series is every sci-fi geek’s ultimate dream, especially those of us who had our spirits crushed by "Star Trek The Motion Picture." I’m happy to report that "Serenity" is faithful to the series and is a great adventure flick in its own right.

"Serenity" opened almost a month ago and is starting to drift to discount theaters, but if you are an adventure fan I highly recommend finding "Serenity." You don’t need to be familiar with "Firefly" to enjoy it, although it wouldn’t hurt, especially in the dozen or so scenes where the geeks around you are cheering and you’re not sure why.

[2009: Where to start? How about with the puns? "I highly recommend finding Serenity." That's bad enough. My original draft implored you to find Serenity now. Even I have pun restraint some days.

Taken as a whole, the 14 episodes of "Firefly" and the movie "Serenity" are quite a package. Every aficionado that I've talked to agrees that two of the episodes would be on the list of the best TV episodes of all time, but no one agrees which episodes, which should tell you about the quality of all the episodes and how each one touches people differently. Oh, pretty much everyone agrees that the last episode is fantastic. Don't make faces.

As I said, "Serenity" is a great action movie all by itself, but the ability to create visual images that a low-budget TV show couldn't packs an extra punch for those familiar with "Firefly." The amazing Joss Whedon, who created the series and wrote & directed the movie, was able to capture the magic of the series and move the story forward with the movie quite effectively.

I could go on forever about how wonderful "Firefly" and "Serenity" are, but I think you've gotten the point. If you are a sci-fi, adventure or western fan, they are must-sees for you. If nothing else, you have to see the scene where Summer Glau's character, River, kicks a bad guy in the back of the head while standing in front, facing away from him, and they didn't use special effects to make it happen. Really.]