Day 36 -- Serenity

Released: September 30th, 2005

Starring: Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin

Writer/Director: Joss Whedon

Description: The crew of the ship Serenity tries to evade an assassin sent to recapture one of their number who is telepathic.

[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]

***

When a cult favorite TV show gets taken off the air too soon, the fans of said show always clamor for a movie to be made. They pay no mind to how exactly their favorite show could actually translate to the big screen, and really only want to see the characters once more. For short lived shows, the chance are worse, but sometimes producers take a chance.

"Serenity" would be the prime example of a movie that was closely tied to the show from which it was born, but was still able to be enjoyed by those that never seen a second of "Firefly". I originally saw this movie from that perspective, as I rented it based solely on how impressed I was with Nathan Fillion's guest starring role on "Buffy". I never felt lost or even realized it was a TV show, but once I found "Firefly", I watched the entire series in one sitting. 

For those unaware, and honestly, why are you reading this if you're not,"Serenity" picks up about six-months after the final episode of "Firefly", and we are reintroduced to Mal (Fillion) and his merry bunch of space pirates, but this time they are on the run from an assassin, who wants to reclaim River (Glau) after she escapes from an Alliance facility. But as they scamper across the galaxy the discover a sinister experiment that created the universe's most feared monsters, the Reavers.

The series was made to be a movie. I've seen it called a space western, and it a very accurate assessment. It goes to show that the core of a great western can be translated to any locale, or time period, and it takes a good writer to make it plausible.

Enter Joss Whedon.

As usual, he does a great job of mixing action, comedy and drama and makes each character likeable. Captain Mal is one of more three-dimensional leads that I've seen in a long time. You know exactly what his motivation is at every moment, and never leans on one aspect of his personality. It is definitely one of those rare moments where a writer and an actor are completely in sync when it comes to a character.

While it was a given that Whedon would provide a great script, it was his direction that drew some concern, but he looked like a seasoned pro. It was most likely because of his familiarity with the world and character that he knew how to create the correct tone. The most beautiful shot of the movie is when they first arrive on Miranda. The whites in that setting are so sterile, yet extremely creepy.

"Serenity" is highly recommended for anyone that enjoys a clever action movie. Fans of Indiana Jones and Star Wars should equally enjoy this film. The final fight with the Reavers is well shot and paced perfectly, and I couldn't go without saying that Summer Glau kicks some serious ass in that scene and in the movie. This should be the standard for transitioning a TV show from small screen to the big screen.

Rating: 8/10 -- One of my favorite sci-fi movies of all-time. Clever writing and terrific acting combine to create one of the most enjoyable movie watching experiences in my life. If they didn't kill off a vital crew member, a sequel would have been quite easy to make story wise, but he most likely knew going in that it was a one-shot deal. Must see.