Serenity
                                                                
Director: Joss Whedon
Year: 2005
Rating: 7.5
I just re-watched the Firefly TV series after some 20 years and still quite enjoyed it the second time around. It was cancelled by Fox after one season and 14 episodes but there was a fervent fan following who were not too happy as was the case with the series producer Joss Whedon. So, he talked Universal into allowing him to make this film. Which unfortunately also didn't do well at the box office. This is what we are left with - a TV series and a film and in a way that feels just right to me. Most TV series go on too long as it is. There was really no place for it to go other than to spend more time with the nine main characters and more adventures. As it was episodic in nature, there were not many loose ends. We can just assume they are still out there in space smuggling goods and skipping by death.



What I found interesting about the series this time through was what it didn't have. For a sci-fi space odyssey that explores the galaxy it has a very limited amount of special effects - most of it is filmed on their ship the Serenity - Firefly Class - or in outside rugged sparse spaces - interior bars and such. There was no real need for fancy dancy effect. It has been called a Western in space and many of the episodes very much reflected this. There are also no aliens - cute or scary - just human outposts all over. The closest it comes are the cannibalistic Reavers who hunt people down and eat them. But they are human and terrifying. In this film, we learn where they came from. Whether in Whedon's mind these were a substitute for Native Americans I can't say but I expect it came to him after watching a John Ford movie. There is also not a lot of the usual space sci-fi tech goobly-gook - no one flies at the speed of light, there are no wormholes or an ability to transport people through space. No robots. All very basic except they are in space and it takes place a few hundred years from now.



In the series it is a collection of nine disparate individuals who at times can barely stand one another but will always risk their life to save one of the others. Their ship Serenity was a piece of junk with a huge cargo bay, a dining room, a few bedrooms, the engine area, the cockpit and a bunch of hiding places for their smuggled goods. It is captained by Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) with Zoe (Gina Torres) as his second in command. She had been under his command in the Alliance War against the Independents. On the losing side. They enlist a pilot (Alan Tudyk), an engineer (Jewel Staite), a killer (Alan Baldwin) and a Companion Inara (Morena Baccarin) who flies with them to do her high-class escort service all over the galaxy. They pick up three passengers in the first episode who stay for the series - a Preacher (Ron Glass), a doctor (Sean Maher) and his young sister River (Summer Glau). The sister turns out to be a fugitive from the Alliance because she has special skills. They experimented on her and want her back. She seems crazy much of the time.



As the film begins, they are up to their usual business but the Preacher has left to run a church and Inara runs a school for aspiring Companions. An assassin (Chiwetel Ejiofor) from the Alliance is assigned to kill River and he is very good at what he does. The film flows from this as they decide to save her no matter what. She turns out to have psychic powers and a Super Black Belt in martial arts with her crushing the people in a bar brawl and then a roomful of Reavers. Quite cool scenes. Yup. The Reavers make an entrance. Lots of them. It is quite good but unless you have seen the series, I think one would miss all the connections between the crew members and in the end their comradery is what the show was all about. Watch the series if you can.