Review of Serenity (2005) by Anssi V — 06 Jan 2014

To this day, fans of science fiction rate the discontinuation of Firefly as one of the most bawling and worst mistakes in television history. Conceived by the inimitable Joss Whedon, Firefly followed the noble tradition of depicting space as the next great frontier - it actually was just as good as a western as it was as scifi - but it did it with its own spin, with great characters, clever dialogue and surprisingly decent special effects. The individual stories had their ups and downs, but you could see the promise and the potential for growth and future story lines. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled after the first season. The reasons varied, but the harsh truth was the there would be no more Firefly, no more Captain Malcolm Reynolds, no more Zoë or other crew members.

Joss Whedon wanted to give the fans at least some closure, which eventually led to this film. Serenity has the feel of a TV movie in that it feels like an extra long episode. It does a good job of introducing its premise and characters to those that are just getting in, but it's still much better if you've seen the series first.

And for what this movie is, it's very good. We return to the main conflicts of the film, once again stepping onto Serenity as she flies throughout the distant solar system, carrying her crew from one adventure to another. Most of our favourite characters come back for a final hurrah and in the end we are provided with enough answers to satisfy our curiosity and to leave us content.

That's not to say that it's not a good movie in its own right. The world of Firefly is given a visual update with movie level budget, the action works beautifully, all the characters are just as good as in the series and as a whole it's very enjoyable experience. Even the villain is properly menacing.

My only real negative is that they tried to cover a bit too much ground with the plot. The foundation for the story was laid in the series and you could see then that it was supposed to form an overarching plot several seasons long. To try and squeeze all that into a movie only a few hours long is a taunting task, and while Whedon does a really good job, it still feels a bit rushed. Could have been a lot worse, however, and the plot in no way ruins the movie. It's just a damn shame that we couldn't have enough time to properly uncover and examine these mysteries.

Serenity is a must-watch for any fan of Firefly. It has the exact same feel as the series and as an individual episode it belongs among the best. As a movie it falls just short of being great, but is still easily recommended for all fans of science fiction and action.