From www.csmonitor.com (3 October 2005) - NO SPOILERS

by John Anderson

A healthy serving of chunky science-fiction soup, "Serenity" is writer/director Joss Whedon’s theatrical version of "Firefly," his late, lamented TV show. What it seems to prove is that the two media in question - television and movies - like the twin moons of Jupiter, share little more than a universe.

Clever in a small-screen fashion and overdone in the tradition of everything from "Star Trek" to "Star Search," "Serenity" is yet another tale that foretells of an interplanetary dictatorship, following a war of insurgency: In this case, the Alliance has defeated and made outlaws of such gunslinging star warriors as Mal (Nathan Fillion) and the intrepid crew of his ship, the Serenity.

While the Alliance occupies one hostile flank in the battle for peace and understanding, the other is inhabited by Reavers, cannibalistic barbarians who represent a fate worse than death.

These are problems, but they can be dealt with. What’s thoroughly unpredictable is River (Summer Glau), a psychic, fung-fu-fighting flower child who has been cultivated by the Alliance as a waifish secret weapon.

River may, in fact, be the most annoying heroine in sci-fi history - slack jawed and quasi-catatonic, she turns totally helpless when her shipmates need her, and when she is kicking asteroids, she can’t tell the good guys from the bad. She makes one think of an extraterrestrial Alanis Morissette.

Still, no one wants her in the hands of The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor), an assassin/ideologue who doesn’t care who gets killed as long as he can create a "world without sin."

Audiences can read whatever political messages they like into all this, but as cinema, "Serenity" suffers from arrested development. The rhythm of so much television - what can be thought of as the "’E.R.’ beat" (straight line, straight line, zinger ... straight line, straight line, zinger ...) - runs out of gas on the big screen. Whedon, of "Buffy the Vampire" and "Angel" fame, has also kept his TV cast together for the feature film, and it misfires. Fillion, who is perfectly capable, can’t hold the screen with any authority; his costars, who include Gina Torres as Zoe, Adam Baldwin as Jayne, and Alan Tudyk as Wash, are also fine, but uninspiring. Ejiofor, who was so great in Stephen Frears "Dirty Pretty Things," has what it takes to seize and hold our attention, but as much as one may dislike the dreamy River, she can’t very well be surrendered to him. At least not until a sequel or two down the intergalactic highway.

The action sequences, it must be said, are intense, and the film is fun, if you can swallow all the hokum.

Frankly, "Serenity" is a film that raises the question of what distinguishes an animated film from live action: There are enough toy space ships floating around to stock the late, lamented FAO Schwartz. Grade: C+

From www.ew.com (3 October 2005) - NO SPOILERS

THERE’S NOTHING FREUDIAN ABOUT THE SIZE OF OUR GUNS

Space bandits on the run from TV cancellation find a home

by Scott Brown

Reckon I’d better own up here at the trailhead: I’m a fan of Firefly, the short-lived 2002 Fox TV series on which Serenity is based. If you’re not familiar with the crisp wit and ornery imagination of writer-creator Joss Whedon’s rusty-nail space Western - no aliens, no lightsabers, just human society, barely cohering on the retro-astro fringe - your chances of appreciating this film are markedly lower, though certainly not nil. Likely you’ll feel a pleasant bemusement, akin to watching an excellent foreign film with a deliberately incomplete translation. I’m hardly exaggerating: The characters often lapse into a crisp, quasi-frontiersy patois, peppered with Chinese slang. (Let that settle in your head - it works, honest.)

The first vision of the future to incorporate starships and suspenders, Serenity (helmed by first-time feature director Whedon) embraces its space-Westernness with rich, oaty literalism. The planet-hopping rust bucket of the title is home to a wagon train of untidy, un-Star Trek misfits prowling the ’’raggedy edge’’ of a newly colonized solar system in search of extralegal employment. Their leader, Capt. Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), is a chipperly bitter veteran of a vast, interplanetary civil war. (Consider him a 26th-century version of the romantically unreconstructed Reb.) He’s hiding a fugitive psychic, River (Summer Glau), on the run from her Union, er, Alliance handlers. (Fans of Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer will recognize the damaged supergirl with childlike tics and godlike abilities.) River is pursued by a nameless government operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a self-described monster driven by a placid, unshakable belief in the ’’better world’’ he’s helping to nurture. The rest of the crew - a true ensemble on the show - are, sadly, pencil sketches here, casualties of the two-hour running time. But each gets a ’’moment’’ that fans are free to unzip and decompress into a real character arc.

The same goes for the story beats. Serenity, despite its simple chase plot and elegant narrative ductwork, is unmistakably a TV season’s worth of roller-coastering drama, most of it balanced on the capable shoulders of Fillion, a natural leading man. Jaw set but never stiff, he gets both the Whedon wit and the Whedon grandiloquence between cheek and gum, and gives the whole enterprise the heft of a real saga. Which it most certainly is - especially for those who were already saddled up for the ride.

From www.hsx.com (29 September 2005) - MINOR SPOILERS

Joss Whedon and company are at their best creating quirky, intensely likeable characters, and the work in Serenity is no exception. Fans of the original TV series will be more than pleased to spend 119 minutes with their old friends, but newcomers will be less satisfied with the pedestrian plotting and small-screen sensibility.

For those unfamiliar with the underlying history, this film had its birth from Firefly, a hard-luck TV series that had the misfortune to occupy a timeslot Fox wanted to use for 2002’s Major League Baseball playoffs. Cancelled before even a full season was aired, Firefly was rescued from obscurity by excellent DVD sales, thanks to word of mouth from admirers of Whedon’s prior work.

Fillion lays down the law
More of a Western than true sci-fi, Serenity follows the adventures of a cast of renegades who prefer a roguish life of freedom on the frontier to that offered by the monolithic Alliance. Extreme trouble crops up when two of their chance crewmates turn out to be holding secrets that could imperil the careers of some of the government’s most prominent leaders. These shadowy figures dispatch an assassin, exuberantly played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who chases our heroes about the galaxy, looking to capture or kill the pair.

Ejiofor’s character “The Operative” is intelligent, gentlemanly, thoughtfully philosophical, and completely ruthless in the pursuit of his goals. Ejiofor does a marvelous job portraying a deeply spiritual man who clearheadedly performs the most sinister acts of evil, all in the name of a greater good. His performance is so compelling that I could not help but wonder how much better Episodes II and III of the Star Wars saga would have been had he been cast as Anakin Skywalker instead of Hayden Christensen.

But then, the screen is crowded with interesting, well-drawn characters, from Nathan Fillion’s Captain Mal to David Krumholtz’ Mr. Universe. So crowded, in fact, that it would have been nice to see the cast pared down a bit so that more time could have been devoted to their development and interaction. Characters such as Ron Glass’ Shepherd Book and Morena Baccarin’s Inara were peripheral to the plot, and could have easily been written out. As I write these words I can almost hear the wail from the show’s fans, who would be miffed if one or more of their faves didn’t appear in the film.

No doubt this is one of the complexities involved in doing a film adaptation of a TV show. What characters do you feature, and which do you leave out? How much of a character’s background information do you assume the audience is familiar with? At several points the screening audience laughed when I was completely in the dark, so I have to figure that Whedon was assuming a fair bit.

Summer the Barbarian
The masterful ease with which Whedon spins out character after character is awe inspiring, but his plotting and tempo shows that he is still uncertain with work in film. For example, the crew of the Serenity must navigate their ship past a gauntlet of cannibalistic space barbarians. After a bit of camouflage, they sail past a thin line of ships. Sweat breaks out on the brows of the heroes, and an enemy spotlight shines on them! But the moment passes, and they are through. The whole scene lasts two minutes at most. Das Boot, it ain’t.

It also struck me as odd that Whedon aimed his plot at the grand, sweeping epic rather than the personal. So much of Serenity seemed to revolve around its personal relationships that there was little need for grand, societal issues to motivate its characters into action. When we think of pioneers, we think of people who are looking to make their own societies, free of the constraints of the place they came from. The frontier is where you are supposed to find freedom and experimentation, not reform.

But let’s remember that this is Whedon’s directorial debut, and despite my carping, gives a fine, enjoyable ride. I can’t wait for Wonder Woman!

From www.wolfpackproductions.com (26 September 2005) - MINOR SPOILERS

Serenity was a well made, well written sci-fi film with a good amount of laughs thrown in to keep it fun and lighthearted.

A group of rebels aboard the spaceship Serenity go from job to job (legal or illegal, doesn't matter) trying to keep the ship afloat. They pick up a brother-sister couple, who have a history. River is a psychic, and it's possible she's learned something that could destroy the Alliance. They send out a cold blooded killer to track her down, and he will do whatever it takes to bring her back. But the crew of the Serenity, while initially trying to protect themselves, realize that her secret could be more important than their survival, and they'll do whatever it takes to keep her safe, and make sure that secret is heard throughout the universe. With the Alliance on one side, and the bloodthirsty Reavers on the other, the crew of the Serenity has everything going against them, but the truth going for them.

Having never watched the show upon which it is based, I had no thoughts going into Serenity other than it was going to be a typical sci-fi film. Not being a big sci-fi fan I figured I'd lose focus after a few minutes and take a nap. Instead I found myself really enjoying this ragtag group of people. The cast was full of somewhat recognizable faces, which meant that you paid more attention to their characters rather than the actors and it helped you get lost in the story. The movie, while taking place far into the future, didn't feel like your usual sci-fi film because much of what happened didn't involve futuristic things. The weapons were all normal, the language was English (with a bit of Chinese thrown in for good measure), and while they flew around in spaceships across the universe, it really felt more like an old-school Western. Good guys vs. bad guys, with this crew being somewhere in between (but ultimately landing on the side of what was right.) The main story was probably the only thing that let me down. The secret that the Alliance doesn't want known was important enough, but without knowing more of the back story, it didn't feel that important, if that makes sense. If the secret was let out, how would it really affect the rest of the galaxy? Were there other rebels, beyond the crew of the Serenity, that would take up arms? Maybe if I had watched Firefly I might have known more, but I didn't, and a lot of people didn't, so I think a little more of a back story would have been in order.

The special effects were well done, and in fact better than I expected. There are a few chase scenes that take place in space vehicles that can look cheesy, but were rather impressive. The creature makeup wasn't all that spectacular, but considering what the Reavers were, I guess it didn't need to be. The action sequences were fun to watch, especially when River got to go all Buffy/Dark Angel on the Reavers. I did think there could have been a bit more action but I never felt bored or anything, so that's always a plus when you're watching a two hour movie.

That being said, I found the movie rather funny. It takes a deft hand to hover between drama and comedy and not tilt too far into either realm to make it either too serious, or too spoofy. And when you have the creator (Joss Whedon) of arguably my favorite TV show of all time (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) at the helm, I should have known the movie was going to be good. It also makes me sad I never gave the TV show a shot. I should put more respect into Whedon's ability. And on that note, I would like to suggest for his soon-to-be Wonder Woman movie, that Jessica Alba play the role. Joss, feel free to call me if you'd like to hear my reasons why. But I digress. A lot of films take themselves too seriously, and you end up with a high and mighty script where people do things for the good of all mankind and they give long speeches and blah blah blah... Those are the kinds of movies that bore me. But Serenity was a very lighthearted picture that still touched on serious topics. It never got to the point where anyone was preaching, and if they did, there was still a joke tacked on to the end. And at the same time, it never got to a point where people were cracking jokes left and right so that it felt like a spoof of sci-fi films. The movie actually treaded the line very well and that was what drew me in and kept me hooked.

So overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Serenity. It had good action, good comedy, and the cast was solid and entertaining. Definitely worth seeing.

From skymovies.com (24 Seotember 2005) - NO SPOILERS

A group of intergalactic vagabonds are pursued by a mysterious government assassin who has been sent to terminate a psychic girl travelling on their spaceship. This superior sci-fi excursion was borne out of the cancelled TV series Firefly and strikes a rich balance between gags, gadgetry and grunge with humour giving it the edge.

Five hundred years into the future and the Earth is dead. Humans have colonised the heavens and an all-powerful Alliance rules the galaxy.

Under the command of Captain Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) a band of petty criminals aboard the good ship Serenity move from port to port, picking up work and knocking off banks where and when they can.

Into their nefariously grungy lives come a pair of strangers - a well-meaning doctor and his disturbed telepathic sister - a former prisoner who seems to have secrets locked inside her troubled young mind that the Alliance will do anything to ensure stay secret. Cue a whirlwind of interstellar adventure and the unforgettable spectacle that is a 90lb girl laying out a bar-full of galactic Hell’s Angels. Born out of the cancelled TV series Firefly - criminally cut down in its prime - this is a genuinely impressive sci-fi adventure in its own right.

The film serves a far greater purpose than merely satisfying the impassioned throng of Firefly devotees.

It’s the kind of balls-to-the-wall action movie that so many others, this past summer especially, purported to be and yet time and time again managed to disappoint.

t’s a western set in space. It’s an amped up galactic soap opera. It’s an all-out comedy. It’s a pumped up action spectacular. Its every one of these things and then probably a little bit more.

Writer / Director / Fanboy/God Joss Whedon takes real relish in unleashing his most effective weapon - humour.

The script casually passes off its golden one-liners at what appear the most inopportune moments, using pitch-perfect gags as a way of enhancing the poignancy of scenes rather than just providing an emotional breather.

Its nice to know that while Mr Lucas was polishing his CG machines and Messrs Wachowski and Wachowski were busy learning every word in the dictionary longer than three syllables one guy has been paying attention to what sci-fi audiences were really gagging for.

Sequels please Mr Whedon, and fast.

From brokenfrontier.com (24 Seotember 2005) - NO SPOILERS

Back to the Black, a Serenity movie review *trailer-level spoilers*

After the cancellation of Joss Whedon’s cult hit TV series Firefly, the crew of Serenity gets to fly again! How do they take it to the big screen? Plus, will you really need to watch the DVDs before opening night? *trailer-level spoilers*

There’s an awful lot of movie in Serenity!

The making of the film is a bit of a Cinderella story. There was a short-lived television series that hit the airwaves for a very brief time in 2002 called Firefly. The show was about a small band of misfits and outlaws traveling under the radar on board a space ship called Serenity. They’re a ragtag bunch who steal, scavenge, and scrap to make their way. The series was cancelled after 11 episodes due to low ratings. The fans, calling themselves Browncoats, rallied. Numerous web-sites and internet petitions were created to bring the downed favorite back to the air. Attempts to find a new network for the series failed. However, when the DVD set was released, it quickly breached the top ten sales list on Amazon.com, and has stayed near the top ever since. The brisk sales were not lost on studio execs. Shortly afterward, Joss Whedon, creator of the series was contracted by Universal to bring his vision, about a group of underdogs to the big screen. Serenity will see its official U.S. release on September 30th.

Serenity is a great movie whether or not you’ve ever seen Firefly. The film is thrilling and gripping, hilarious and horrific. Even for seasoned fans, Serenity creates a sensory overload within the first few minutes, and keeps up that pace throughout. The film starts with a bang and never lets up! One of the film’s faults is that without prior knowledge it may be a bit difficult to feel any connection to the characters as their stories whiz by during the first half. Whedon’s approach to the exposition is akin to cramming it all in with a crowbar. However, everything you need to know about the characters is shown in the film, even if it runs at a breakneck pace.

If you’re curious, here are the basics: Malcolm Reynolds (played by Nathan Fillion of Saving Private Ryan) is a veteran on the losing side of a civil war in space. He’s a “Browncoat” who fought hard against the galactic Alliance, and he doesn’t regret it. Mal captains Serenity with a ragtag crew that barely ekes out a living by taking whatever jobs they can. In their travels they have taken on two fugitives, a brother and sister named Simon and River Tam. While River has proved a bit unpredictable, Simon guaranteed their passage by serving as the ship’s doctor. The film begins as the crew are reminded they don’t know very much about the girl at all.

Written and directed by Oscar and Emmy nominated Whedon, the film kicks the intensity up a few notches from the television series. All of the original cast return, a bit more world-weary. This family has been through its shake-ups, but they’re still flying. At the head of the table, Fillion shows a side of Mal that is harder and much darker than was shown in the TV series. He’s not as user-friendly as he was in Firefly, possibly much closer to Whedon’s original conception of the character, more quiet and intense, a man in his own personal war.

The rest of the cast get to have fun with Whedon’s script, which as usual combines action and drama with horror, and undercuts it all with moments of humor, like a fine wine paired with strong cheese. Every member of the crew gets a moment in the spotlight, but perhaps the most light is shed on the enigmatic River, played by newcomer Summer Glau. There’s a lot of mystery about the 17-year old, who after spending years as a lab-rat for the Alliance may prove a threat to the Alliance itself, as well as the people around her, the crew. Also shining is Chiwetel Ejiofor, as the regal and enigmatic Alliance Operative sent to hunt her down.

Firefly film editor Lisa Lassek also returns for the film, molding all of Whedon’s thrilling heroics and gorgeous fight sequences into a seamless bit of storytelling. She ably makes the jump from television to feature film. The effects scenes flow beautifully, with sequences by original Firefly effects crew Zoic studios and Rhythm and Hues. The set of the ship Serenity is amazing, completely realized; a real place that rattles and shakes. Most of the other sets evoke outer space terra firma, save for one distracting exception early in the film. Otherwise quite stylish and even dizzying, the film maintains a sense of real violence. The threats stay threatening, and that’s what motivates the characters to do, hopefully, the right thing

If you’ve never heard of Serenity, or Firefly, if you’ve never taken a trip around the ‘verse, this movie might be jarring, fast and overwhelming, and that’s the fun of it. If you have a bent for science fiction or action, it’ll be worth checking out. It couldn’t hurt to catch some Firefly episodes on the Sci Fi channel, or pick up the DVD set beforehand, but there’s still a lot to enjoy in this film if you’re not familiar with the series. There are things that you might miss, but this film may be worth re-watching.

If you’re already going to see this movie, if you’re a Browncoated fan of the television show, just know that Serenity is not Firefly. It’s like a concentrated dose of Firefly, where the stakes are higher and the mood is darker. It’s still going to be jarring, big and overwhelming, and you should see it again and again.

From threedworld.com.au (24 Seotember 2005) - NO SPOILERS

Joss Whedon, the genius behind classic TV like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel reckons that a good cult film that is one that is set in a world that people can believe in, with heightened romance and great characterisation thrown into the mix. If he is correct, then his debut feature film Serenity (based on the popular TV series, Firefly) is well on its way to a spot in the shiny trophy cabinet of cult films like Bladerunner, Star Wars and Star Trek.

Serenity is all the things that your run-of-the-mill sci-fi flick is not. For starters, there’s a decided absence of the sleek curves and shiny metal interiors that dominate much of the genre. In fact, aboard the spaceship Serenity, the motley crew eats off a rustic wooden table screwed to the floor, and sits on retro sofas in front of a macramé wall hanging. “Sci-fi has gotten a little antiseptic for me, with sets that look like sound stages… I just wanna feel earth and dirt and life,” says Whedon.

It is undoubtedly this passion for keeping it real that has earned Whedon an army of fans, or “Browncoats” as they prefer to be called, beyond the realm of just Buffy and Angel. The internet is packed with websites, forums and blog communities devoted to Firefly, and the show’s characters and galactic plots – pretty damn impressive for a series that was canned by Fox after 11 of the 14 episodes were aired. But when lounge chairs are being swapped for cinema seats and popcorn, there are the non-fans to consider as well.

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my career,” says Whedon of writing his debut feature. “I had to honour the fans, and at the same time, completely ignore their existence. If the film is just part of a greater whole, then it’s glorified episode-television. I screened the movie to a bunch of people who aren’t Browncoats, or don’t even have any coats at all, and their response was really enthusiastic.”

For those who’re perhaps wearing yellow coats instead of brown, Serenity is a solid, stand-alone film with its own visual and narrative merits. With a documentary/hand-held camera view, we’re hurtled 500 years into the gritty future where Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hard-edged galactic civil war veteran, makes ends meet through a series of petty crimes, as well as transporting questionable cargo on the Firefly ship, Serenity. His small, but the eclectic crew squabbles incessantly – just like a real family.

But this happy family vibe is soon squashed when Mal agrees to transport a young doctor and his unstable telepathic sister through space. The siblings are running from The Alliance, a shady coalition dominating the galaxy that will move hell and high water to get the girl into their sweaty palms before she leads the Serenity crew to a secret – one that the Alliance would rather be kept buried forever.

Whedon is a self-confessed juxtaposition junkie, and his film is full of startlingly creative visual, textual, and cultural fusions: Chinese symbolism, cultural mythologies and Western themes all roll seamlessly into a multi-layered and tightly woven plot. “Ultimately I love everything when it comes to stories. I love all genres and all formats,” he says.

Where other films clobber us into submission with spectacular, costly digital effects…and not much else, Serenity is story telling at its very best. There’s a rich synthesis of warm and interesting characters, dressed not in one-piece silver space suits, but in grungy, contemporary attire. At the ship’s wiry mess of a control panel, there is a little tableau of plastic figurines, much like the ones you see lined up on a car’s dash. This very realness stops the film from becoming too static or melodramatic and balances the space monster action that is packed into almost every frame.

“This was supposed to be the story where I got past my obsession with adolescent female superheroes, but that didn’t work out!” Whedon says of the butt-kicking combat in Serenity that has, incidentally, become part of his signature Buffy-esque style. But there’s no need for him to get over that particular obsession: along with girls who can slice some air like a martial arts maestro, there’s a natural humour interlaced into the dialogue that brings the story back down to earth.

Joss Whedon is, without a doubt, a master of story telling, and Serenity is a breath of fresh air in an industry often clogged with films cashing in on the wow-factor. “I conquered film,” he says with a dramatic lilt in his voice. “But it nearly conquered me. I wanted to make popcorn movies that were thoughtful, exciting, interesting and humanistic.” He’s right on the mark there; Serenity succeeds in bringing heart and soul back to popular culture.

From Darkhorizons.com (24 Seotember 2005) - SPOILERS

There is a very different dynamic between the worlds of television and cinema as "Serenity", the film continuation of Joss Whedon’s unfairly and prematurely cancelled sci-fi western series "Firefly" can attest to. With just over half a season under its belt, the Fox network pulled the quirky but increasingly enjoyable show from its line-up despite a loyal, quickly brewing fanbase. The show went on to do big business thanks to a superb DVD set containing the entire series - so much so Universal has tried to resurrect the property in a moderate-budget film that they hope will start a screen franchise much like Paramount had with the now dead "Star Trek" franchise. The Trek comparison is very apt because sadly that’s what "Serenity" feels exactly like - one of the more decidedly average installments in that franchise.

The 90’s Trek spin-offs worked because in the episodes you had character history, back stories, interesting interaction between the crew members and time to explore plot elements over the course of several episodes or seasons. On film though the story had to start and wrap-up in the two-hour spot, the focus had to be on big action set pieces rather than a strong topical narrative, supporting characters were reduced to only a handful of lines in favour of guest star antagonists, and characters had to be more gung-ho and far less nuanced. The little references were cool for fans but the humour often felt a lot flatter, the lower budget left some of the action set pieces with much to be desired, and much of the story was geared only to fans rather than newcomers despite the producers protests to the contrary.

The EXACT same problems can be seen in "Serenity", even more so in fact because of its much greater reliance on said character interaction than Trek. Joss Whedon’s series was built on the crew’s relationship, witty dialogue and well-handled skill with a slowly building mythology. Much of that is given merely window treatment in the film, leaving a strange beast behind that’s different altogether from both the original show, or a completely new sci-fi film franchise familiar to no-one. "Serenity" is much more "Star Wars" in style with space battles, a much bigger dose of visual effects, and a tone that’s far darker and more action-oriented than the character-based comedy/light action of the small screen.

At times it does soar, especially when it returns to the more offbeat elements of the show, but this new direction is not Whedon’s forte and it shows. His work helming is solid but nothing special and there’s a definite sense of a television background with the way scenes are handled (ie. repetitive tight dark interiors, the odd exterior shot in a redressed national park). Pacing veers wildly, much of the action feels tacked on rather than being integrated into the story, and there’s the predictable albeit smart end of second act twist. For all its little movements away from the Trek-ian formula it, "Serenity" - much like the early episodes of the recent "Battlestar Galactica" - essentially uses the exact same mold and merely changes its window dressing into something a little less polished, rougher and grittier to try and pass itself off as something new.

Yet at certain points it works beautifully. A fast paced but effectively creepy opening sequence might confuse newcomers but manages to quickly review the basics of what happened in the series whilst delivering fans a look at an event important to the series that took place beforehand. The humour may be pretty flat throughout but at other times it gets a good laugh in and Whedon handles the suspense element quite well by proving that any one of these characters could die at a moment’s notice. The Reavers on the big screen are both disappointingly realised as "Ghosts of Mars" rejects and never conveyed anywhere near as much of a threat as they were on the show, yet the explanation of how they came into being and how it ties into the main story is quite clever.

The biggest disappointment of the film though is some of the short shrift the characters are given. One of the show’s great strengths was Morena Baccarin’s Inara, essentially a high-class concubine whose character was a distinct and different presence on the series. In the film however she’s useless, reduced to barely any lines and lacking any of the rich depth her character brought to the show. Same goes for the likes of the Shephard and Wash - the former given the Obi-Wan routine for his five-minute cameo in the film, the latter reduced to lame banter as he pilots the ship.

Other great budding characters from the show like Zoe, Kaylee and Jayne are merely simplified caricatures of their television selves though the actors do their best with the parts and make them work. Only three get any real focus - Reynolds, River and an Alliance assassin out to retrieve River. All the key actors deliver good performances, Glau finally getting some stuff to work with whilst Fillion gives us a darker and more disturbed interpretation of his Han Solo-esque roguish Captain. Ejiofor is the newcomer to this franchise and yet delivers a cool and collected job as a professional but ruthless killer to his scenes even if he is stuck with the all too predictable face-off.

The budget is paradoxically all too much and yet all too little. The TV series was very obviously limited with a rather small budget which forced more reliance on solid storytelling that never tried to reach too far beyond its means. Given some extra millions, Whedon tries to stretch his $40 million budget into a $100 million epic but comes out with something looking like it cost $50 million. The result is certain action sequences are hampered and cheap looking, whilst the look overall feels uneven. Yet the effects are solid for the most part, the sets are pretty good and there’s at times an interesting combination of the Old American West, ancient Oriental elements and flashy sci-fi trappings.

Overall its a hard film to review because a lot will depend upon your reaction to this sort of material and your existing love or familiarity with the show. I went with two friends to the screening - one who’d never seen the show and one who had gotten into it more than I did. We’re all sci-fi fans to a different extent and yet all three of us came out rather blasse - the unfamiliar one didn’t like it, I thought it was decidedly average and the bigger fan thought it was ok. Yet the ’Browncoats’ fans which made up most of the audience whooped and hollered throughout. Hardcore fans will undoubtedly be satisfied but its unlikely this will spread much beyond that audience, and even they will find it lacks that human spark and freshness that made the series distinctive and appealing.

From DVDtimes.co.uk (24 Seotember 2005) - SPOILERS

American TV audiences and studios can be a fickle bunch - the fate of a series is often decided within the first few weeks of its life. After Buffy and Angel were a big success for Fox, their creator, Joss Whedon decided to make his next project a departure with the Sci-Fi Western, Firefly. In some ways selling the concept must’ve been a challenge and while science fiction and westerns aren’t as far removed in narrative terms as their respective settings would suggest, combining the two with a liberal helping of martial arts and the Chinese language could result in a hard time convincing the suits at Fox.

Indeed, following an unsuccessful pilot, Fox first decided not to proceed with Whedon’s vision, instead granting James Cameron’s Dark Angel a third season. However Whedon was not discouraged and went ahead with a second attempt, this time prompting Fox to take a chance by cancelling a moderately successful series and replacing it with an unproven one. Unfortunately bad scheduling and so-so word of mouth from the Buffy/Angel contingent meant low viewing figures and eventually only fourteen episodes were made. As is the case these days, DVD sales can sometimes more than make up for poor TV viewing figures - Family Guy got a fourth season after being prematurely cancelled and there continue to be rumours that Futurama could also make a return in one way or another - and this is all down to the huge success both shows had on DVD. The same has occurred with Firefly prompting Universal to approach Fox to option the show for a big screen adaptation with Whedon at the helm.

So, a couple of years later we finally get to see Firefly make a triumphant return, this time to the big screen, and with advance word being very good for a TV spin-off few remain to be convinced by Whedon’s vision of the future.

Whedon’s previous dabbles with the world of cinema have been varied, and not entirely unsuccessful; of course he created the concept of Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the big screen and managed to resurrect the same story for a far more successful TV series, he was involved in writing the first Toy Story film and even turned his hand to the Alien franchise with the much maligned Alien: Resurrection (although Whedon suggests that the film’s bad reputation is down to post-screenplay meddling rather than the original story).

Serenity is set a few months after the last filmed episode of the television series and Mal (Nathan Fillion) and the rest of his crew continue to eek a troubled existence outside of the law carrying out missions for various members of the criminal underworld. While dodging the Alliance and the murderous Reavers, every day is a fight for survival against ever worsening odds. Unfortunately, Mal’s troubles are compounded by a couple of passengers, Simon (Sean Maher) and River (Summer Glau) Tam, themselves on the run from the Alliance after Simon rescued his sister from a top secret research facility. With the risk that River knows the inner workings and secrets of the Alliance an assassin, known only as The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is dispatched to locate and neutralise the threat she poses.

Despite the legacy of Firefly being very obvious, Serenity actually assumes no detailed knowledge. A brief prologue and introduction to Simon and River as they escape the clutches of the Alliance give us all we need to understand their plight and while regular viewers will understand far more of the story it’s not entirely necessary to overdose on the DVDs before heading off to the cinema. There are plenty of surprises along the way and Whedon delights in playing with the audience by putting each and every member of the crew at risk; there’s no guarantee that any of them will make it through the film alive and at times you actually think none of them will. In addition to catering for newcomers to the Firefly universe, plenty of questions that hung over the series itself are answered, including the origin of the Reavers, a group of humans intent on raping, murdering and pillaging all of the worlds not under the tight grip of the Alliance; and despite the comparatively short running time, Serenity allows for plenty of growth in it’s characters; in particular Mal who becomes much easier to sympathise with as the film progresses.

There is plenty of the trademark Whedon humour here too - even during the darkest moments of the film he’ll chuck in something to raise a dry laugh from the audience and some great, if idiosyncratic, dialogue gives Serenity a fresh appearance without alienating non-fans.

Serenity is also surprisingly violent and at times graphic. In the opening sequence when Ejiofor’s Operative pays a visit to the scientific team tasked with studying River there is a particularly notable moment as the lead scientist falls on to the Operative’s sword and slowly slides down it. Despite the need for ratings, Whedon and Universal have obviously decided not to burden the film with cuts in order to achieve a lower, audience attracting certificate and this in itself is somewhat refreshing.

The special effects are a noticeable step up from the television series too with a spectacular battle within a planetary atmosphere putting anything from the Star Trek films to shame and the focus on story rather than pretty visuals hasn’t detracted at all. Serenity is a far more rounded film than any of the Star Wars prequels in this respect.

Whedon’s direction is largely adequate - but there are a few questionable moments of camera work. Whether these are failed attempts to be more adventurous with a wider canvas or whether it’s just Whedon’s inexperience with big-screen action is up for debate but for the most part these don’t distract from just how good the rest of the film is.

Serenity succeeds in every way; it’s a great introduction to Firefly, it has the potential to lead on to bigger and better films and most of all it pleases the fans who believed in the story and show from the start. Even better, it’s a damn good film and well worth checking out.

From Shinyshelf.co.uk (11 Seotember 2005) - SPOILERS

’Serenity’ is Joss Whedon’s long awaited first film. For all his script work on others, this is his feature directorial debut. And it shows. Whedon is undeniably a great TV director, and a great writer, but the transition to the big screen doesn’t quite work. In fact the film falls between two stools: it is neither a great film in its own right, nor something which will please all fans of the original TV series (’Firefly’) on which it is based.

The plot is relatively self-contained, with an excellent opening sequence which explains a big chunk of backstory neatly and gives us an immediate idea of three of the characters - Simon and River Tam, and the Alliance’s Agent - and the themes of the film. It differs from the TV series here but that’s utterly unimportant because it’s there to serve the film. The main story is well plotted, coherent and interconnected although there is one moment at which Mal (Nathan Fillion), the anti-hero of the film, does something purely to ensure the plot continues. The way in which the Reavers - essentially evil space zombies - are built up is very good with Whedon following the principle that a half-glimpsed terror is more convincing than any amount of realised gore. When the crew of Serenity reach the planet Miranda, where River’s increasing insanity has led them, the place is shot almost whited out rather than the expected usual dark corridor horror. The deliberately misfocussed zooms and lens flare which characterised the TV series - and made it a very effective counter to the polished cleanliness of other TV SF - are reduced. It’s a shame, but a logical and sensible decision - the rough-and-ready aesthetic of the series would not work on the big screen. And, with more budget to play with, the special effects have been ramped up.

Unfortunately, the thing which has been lost in the translation is one of the very things Whedon is best at as a writer: characterisation. I was aware that these were cut down versions of the characters that had gradually been revealed over 13 episodes. With the exception of the deliberately one-note Jayne, all the others are painted more broadly and quickly. I do not have a problem with the darker Mal as that was clearly the intent with the character originally. But Wash and Zoe’s loving marriage - something strange and beautiful in the series - is barely registered on the screen. Simon and Kaylee’s never-quite-happening romance is indicated more by a crashing gear change into romantic music than by anything they say or do on screen. This isn’t the fault of the cast, all of whom are excellent, but because the characters have been made subserviant to the plot. This may, obviously, be one of those criticisms which anyone who hasn’t watched the series will not have with the film.

Another thing cut back on from the tv series was the complex blending of Chinese and American cultures: whilst it is there, it is trimmed back on until the culture is ’American with Chinese elements’. I miss my Mandarin swearing! As with the characterisation, there is the suspicion that this is due to the time and money constraints of the film form.

’Serenity’ is a decent enough film but by raising the ideas up to the big screen, a little something that made ’Firefly’ the great television it was has been lost.

From Comingsoon.net (10 Seotember 2005) - MINOR SPOILERS

by Scott Chitwood
Rating: 8 out of 10

Summary:

Great humor, good special effects, and entertaining performances by the cast make Serenity a great dose of sci-fi now that Star Wars has come and gone. It’s essentially the adventures of young Han Solo and crew. Fans of the Firefly TV series should especially enjoy it since no character is safe in this big screen revival.

Story:

Serenity is a spinoff of the Firefly TV series by Joss Whedon that aired on Fox in 2002-2003. It was then was promptly cancelled. This film takes place six months after the events in the series.

Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is a former soldier from a galactic civil war who now roams the galaxy as a thief and smuggler. Joining him on his ship, Serenity, is former fellow soldier Zoë, pilot Hoban ’Wash’ Washburn, engineer and mechanic Kaylee Frye, and hired muscle Jayne Cobb. Still tagging along with the ragtag band is Dr. Simon Tam and his sister River Tam. River was experimented on by the Universal Alliance and they have now pursued our heroes across the galaxy to get her back. What secrets does her damaged mind hold?

The Alliance is finally close to catching River and Malcolm and a man named ‘The Operative’ leads the chase. As he steps up the stakes, Malcolm finds his comfortable world as a smuggler falling apart. Will he turn over River or stand up for his makeshift family? Or will River simply snap and kill them all first?

Serenity is rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, and some sexual references.

What Worked:

In anticipation of this movie being released, I bought the Firefly DVD set and watched all the episodes. It took a few episodes for me to get into it, but I finally ended up enjoying it quite a bit. But fortunately you don’t have to have seen the TV series in order to follow the movie. I believe it’s fairly easy to jump on board and understand what all is going on. For the uninitiated, I would describe Serenity as the early adventures of young Han Solo. Mal is essentially a younger version of our Star Wars hero. He’s a smuggler and thief with a gruff exterior and a heart of gold. He frequently finds himself in over his head. His bark is often bigger than his bite. The main difference between the characters is that Mal isn’t afraid to shoot first. I think if you’re a fan of Star Wars or Han Solo, Serenity is going to appeal to you. The other thing to note about Serenity is that it is a true space western. There are dusty mining towns, showdowns, and people saying, "I reckon". This show takes the term "final frontier" literally. It’s sometimes cheesy, but it gives the show a unique feel. Finally, Serenity is really funny at times. Joss Whedon is great with funny or witty dialogue and it shows yet again in this movie. I know Serenity newbies who attended advance screenings and were taken off guard by just how funny it was.

Though the movie is light enough that Serenity newbies can join in the fun, there’s a lot to please veteran fans of the series, too. You finally get to see what the mysterious Reavers are. You get to see big, spectacular space battles thanks to the bigger film budget. You visit new worlds that are unique and impressive. But most notable is that Joss Whedon puts every single character in real jeopardy in the movie. The stakes are significantly raised and absolutely no character is safe. I found my jaw dropping on several occasions saying, "I can’t believe they just did that!" There is a definite shock factor here. If you have a lot of time and emotion invested in the characters, you’ll be moved by their ultimate fates a lot more than people that have never seen the series.

The acting is pretty much the same as it was in the TV series. Everyone remains very true to character (though Ron Glass gets a fraction of the screentime as Shepherd Derrial Book). I think the cast member that is going to get the most out of this big screen debut is Nathan Fillion as Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds. He’s handsome, funny, and tough as Mal. It’s a breakout role in much the same way Han Solo was for Harrison Ford. It could be big for him if people will be willing to come out and see a movie spun off of a TV series. I was also impressed with Chiwetel Ejiofor as The Operative. I really liked him in Dirty Pretty Things and didn’t even realize he was the same actor until I started writing this review. His performance is rather understated, but his villain is probably more realistic than most shown on the big screen. The Operative is essentially a good guy that believes in his cause and that makes him a most dangerous opponent. Summer Glau also steps up her performance as River Tam. She gets a lot more to do emotionally and also demonstrates quite a knack for action sequences.

What Didn’t Work:

I hate to say this, but the Serenity fans at the screening I went to were really obnoxious. Having people dress up or enjoy themselves at movies can be a lot of fun, but it was really annoying at this particular film. At this screening men were putting on rubber gloves in anticipation of the film (and even I’m not sure what that’s a reference to). People were singing songs they had written about Whedon, Firefly, and Universal VERY LOUDLY and very badly. Another woman in the back repeatedly yelled out, "Are you aimin’ to misbehave, Browncoats?!?!" It was a little much, and this comes from a Star Wars geek who has seen more than his fair share of geeks dressing up at movies. I’m sure this would chase away general moviegoers.

As for the movie itself, it takes quite a while to get rolling. There are a few good action sequences here and there, but there are long stretches where things slow down significantly before the explosive finale. I also have to add that I was disappointed by the Reavers. They were played up to be very terrifying, horrible creatures from space that had rarely been seen. When they are finally revealed, they seem more like Mad Max rejects than the scourge of the universe.

The Bottom Line:

In the end, Serenity was a lot of fun and a nice dose of sci-fi to keep me happy now that Star Wars has gone back into carbon freeze. While the film probably isn’t destined to blow audiences away, it’s a solid enough big screen debut to hopefully convince Universal to crank out more. Firefly fans should really enjoy it and new fans should hopefully find it accessible enough to jump on board.

From Moviehole.com (7 Seotember 2005) - MINOR SPOILERS

by Clint Morris

When something’s badly wounded, it usually dies and.... stays dead. But in the case of "Firefly", a short-lived TV series that aired (out of sequence, mind you) for twelve short weeks in 2002, a knock on heaven’s door was met with no retort. The Sci-Fi Western was merely greeted by a ‘Closed - Come Back Later’ sign stuck on the pearly gates, and so, it promptly slid back down the white lights - and back to life for a second chance, or, lengthened existence. Bless those angelic fans.

Created by celebrated "Buffy" alumni Joss Whedon, "Firefly" was an episodical part sci-fi, part Western show that told of a small space freighter whose crew are willing to take whatever types of jobs come their way in order to preserve a way of life outside of the regimented Alliance.

Similar to what happened with the similar-themed "Star Trek" some thirty years before, Firefly garnered a huge following in such a short amount of time, and with sales of it’s DVD Box-Set going through the roof - it seemed only natural to give it a second chance - on a bigger canvas.

Less refined than George Lucas’s drastically more expensive sci-fi saga, and dirtier in both look and manner than GR’s Enterprise adventures, Whedon’s series, and now movie, is quite a unique experience. Everything you loved about the series is back on the big screen too - with $50 million worth of extras. Back is the excellent writing, the humour, the adventure, the distinct characters, the plight, the battles, the sexual tension, and the imaginatively designed starships - still as dirty as ever, and as wonky as a rusted bike. There are a couple of surprises in tow too.

Cocky space-smuggler Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his crew - engineer Kaylee (Jewel Staite), his second in command and most trusted ally, Zoe (Gina Torres), her husband, the pilot, Wash (Alan Tudyk), and the muscle, Jayne (Adam Baldwin) - are still harbouring fugitives, the telepathic River Tam (Summer Glau) and her doctor brother, Simon (Sean Maher) on-board their rust-bucket space ship.

The alliance’s hunt for the fugitives - especially River, who harbours some secrets and then some - is cranked up a notch when The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is assigned to find them. He’ll do anything - quite a nasty character he is - to get to River, and it poses quite a challenge for the crew of Serenity. "Serenity" feels like a gobsmackingly-good two-hour season ender for the series. But that’s good. That’s what fans want. Who wants to revisit the beloved characters only to discover that they’re changed, or that the story’s drifted away from the one we were tuning in week-after-week for?

At the same time, Whedon’s - making his feature-film directorial debut here - need to please the fans might also have hurt his film a little. Those that are new to the world might soon catch on - you get a quick introduction - but they’re unlikely to be as emotionally invested in the characters as the fans are, and let’s admit it, it’s the characters that we keep coming back for. Some of the film’s surprises are unlikely to affect newcomers, as they will the regular browncoats.

Still, everyone likes a good movie - and this is definitely an A-grade experience. The writing is impeccable, the chemistry among the cast is fantastic, the performances are great, and the action is non-stop. The film’s skirmishes really kick in towards the tail end of the movie, and it’s everyone’s party then. Summer Glau is inevitably the film’s standout as the puzzling Escapee River giving a multi-faceted performance and predominantly, kicking some royal bootie in action stakes, but series scene-stealers Nathan Fillion, as Mal, and Adam Baldwin, as Jayne, are still as amusing and boastful as ever. There’s a couple of equally talented newcomers to the Whedonverse too - Chiwetel Ejiofor as the ominous villain, and the always-dependable David Krumholtz as the amusing techno-head ‘Mr Universe’.

There are some slow spots - exposition does need to be slotted somewhere, I guess? - and it’s disappointing to see a couple of the show’s most popular characters sitting on the bench, but all-in-all, "Firefly" fans are going to be extremely happy with the feature-length treat Sir Whedon has rewarded them with here.

Many, I’m guessing, might want to pick up some cough mixture on their way home from the theatre too - with all the screaming, laughing, yahooing and shouting, they’ll be doing, they’re inexorably going to lose their voice.

Thanks Joss. This is a superb directorial debut - and one sensational bit of cinema.

From millarworld.tv (1 September 2005) - NO SPOILERS

by Brian Wilkinson

“If it sucks, it’s your fault,” warns a grinning Joss Whedon during a taped message before the June 23rd screening of Serenity in Toronto. The audience chuckles at this statement, albeit a mite anxiously. After all, the moviegoers in the packed 220 seat Paramount theatre have reason to be nervous. They’re about to see a film based on Firefly, a failed TV series, and how the general public decide to embrace it will determine the future of the franchise. It was their campaigning and their dollars that brought it back from the dead and now it faces a trial by fire: a general movie-going audience.

Still, optimism is running high in the theatre. Tickets for the show sold out in a matter of minutes and many made special arrangements and travel plans to coincide with the 10pm screening. Their vigilance and dedication has already paid off, in part, thanks to the arrival of one of the film’s stars, Sean Maher, who gratefully claims that “enthusiasm is why this movie was made.”

When Firefly first aired in 2003 on the Fox Network it seemed doomed from the start. Fox aired the show out of order, frequently switched the nights on which it was aired, and often pre-empted the show for other programming. The executives shrugged, claimed the show failed to find its audience (it was the other way around), and closed up shop. Only 11 of the 14 episodes made it to air during its original run. Whedon jokes during his taped message that it was “the most cancelled show of the year.”

“The people who made the show and saw the show were pretty much the same number,” Whedon deadpans. While that certainly may have been true during its initial run, one thing that any network should keep in mind is how loyal a fanbase can be, especially when your creator is responsible for the huge hits Buffy, The Vampire Slayer and Angel. When the DVD of the complete series finally hit the shelves, it was all retailers could do to keep it in stock. Knowing a good thing when they (finally) saw it, fans did everything they could to keep Firefly on the air. Petitions were signed. An ad was taken out in Variety. Phone calls were made. All to no avail.

But that’s business, and that’s Hollywood. On the other hand, the power of DVD sales is a much more potent argument than anything fans could have come up with otherwise. Armed with his sales figures, Whedon shopped the property around until Universal bit and decided to give it a go. It should be noted that since the trailer for Serenity appeared, Firefly has slowly climbed the top ten sales chart at Amazon.com, making it one of the most successful box sets to be sold through the site.

Firefly, and now Serenity, follow the adventures of Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his crew aboard Serenity, a transport-for-hire ship dealing mostly in smuggling. Reynolds and his first mate, Zoe, started up the venture after coming out on the losing side of a galactic civil war in which the Independents lost to the 1984-ish Alliance. Reynolds assembles a rag-tag crew to work with him, but gets more than he bargained for when he brings aboard a brilliant young doctor and his troubled sister. The Alliance is after them and will stop at nothing to get them. Life could be a lot easier for Reynolds if he just gave them up, but being stubborn is a quality the Captain prides himself on.

Serenity picks up six months after Firefly leaves off. Changes have been made here and there, but the goal remains the same: keep flying. Things get complicated with the arrival of an Alliance operative, blood-thirsty Reavers, and a greater mystery involving the whole of the Serenity ‘verse that needs to get sorted out in the precious two hours Whedon has to tell his tale.

Diehards may not get all the answers they want, and even a few they don’t like, but it’s a satisfying romp overall. The audience laughed, gasped, and cried out at all the right moments and the buzz after the film was stronger than it had been beforehand. One audience member remarked that he thought Whedon did a “good job of making it accessible to everyone”, but still felt that it spoke more strongly to those who came armed by having seen the series already.

If the couple hundred screaming fans at the Paramount that night are any indication, Universal made a smart bet when it shook hands with Whedon and secured the film rights from Fox. Serenity was born from the ashes of Firefly while Whedon, surrounded by his loyal cast, made the transition from television to film in fine form. That’s not to say it won’t have hurdles to overcome when the September 30th release date rolls around. Viewers are confronted with a sci-fi film that isn’t Star Wars or Star Trek, there are no recognizable actors (aside from Alan Tudyk (Dodgeball), whose star is slowly rising, but many will likely comment “hey, it’s that guy from that movie we saw”), and many may not realize that there are nearly 10 hours of back story from a television series that would certainly be helpful to those who want the full story.

With a general audience in mind, Whedon didn’t try to make so much a continuation of the series, but a film enabling casual viewers and diehard fans alike to jump on board. It could be argued that a greater appreciation for the film would come from seeing it beforehand, though one or two of the viewers in the audience, newbies to the ‘verse, quickly got the gist.

It may not fly for everyone who gives it a shot this fall, however. There is a cast of nine characters to get through, and at that only the Captain (played by Edmonton, Alberta native Nathan Fillion) and River (Summer Glau) get the amount of attention needed to really hook the interest of a fresh audience. Other characters are quickly relegated to background status, each with a few key moments, but it may not be enough to distinguish them clearly. Fillion in particular owns this film from beginning to end. He plays Reynolds with such a joyous, and yet reckless, abandon that it gives the film more energy and complexity than it would have otherwise.

Other highlights have to be Adam Baldwin (Independence Day, The Inside) and his thuggish portrayal of Serenity’s merc-for-hire, Jayne Cobb. Baldwin got some of the best lines of the TV show and the film is no different.

For the budget, the effects are excellent and Whedon makes use of real-world locales more than others in the genre (George Lucas), which gives Serenity the dusty and gritty texture not present in sci-fi since Alien back in 1980. That said, a few FX heavy shots clearly show where the budget couldn’t stretch as far, such as the zoom-in on one character’s home planet, though other moments including the climax make up for these establishing shots.

The greatest strength this film has isn’t in its acting, effects, or even its fans, but in the writing of Joss Whedon himself. Whedon has the uncanny ability to take any moment and twist it to its polar opposite. Used too much and it can be jarring, but used deftly you create a lot more drama, suspense, and comedy than you would have otherwise. Whatever failings Serenity may have in the eyes of the viewing public, writing should be nowhere on that list.

As Maher finishes up his greeting to the Toronto crowd, the audience suddenly bursts out into their loudest cheer yet. The lights have dimmed and Whedon has appeared on the screen, all smiles for the fans who have made this movie possible. “Just remember, they tried to kill us. They did kill us. Yet here we are. We have done the impossible, and that makes us mighty. Welcome to Serenity.

From millarworld.tv (1 September 2005) - NO SPOILERS

by Scott Hinze

I am a huge Firefly fan. Watching it on Friday nights on Fox was magical. Having never seen a Buffy or Angel episode in my life, I didn’t sign on as a Whedon-ite beforehand but fell in love with the show’s rich characters, unique environment, sharp humor and wonderful serialized pace. When it was cancelled, I almost cried.

And then, out of nowhere, Firefly was returning - this time on the big screen! I gleefully bought my expensive sneak preview tickets of the film Serenity and bit my nails to the nub in anticipation.

This summer, at a Dallas movie theater, I saw Serenity - and had a letdown as big as when the series was cancelled. What I saw was my favorite TV show of all time force itself onto the big screen in a very haphazard manner.

Basically, I didn’t like the answers Joss chose to give in the movie, or the way he gave them - those he did choose to clarify were particular mysteries that defined the Firefly universe for me as a fan but the explanations were too clean, simplistic and packaged. I didn’t buy it. The ones he didn’t answer, on the other hand, would have been GREAT fodder for a flick! It didn’t satisfy me with a proper ending (very similar to Matrix: Revolutions) and the horrible taste of incompletion remained in my mouth – which shouldn’t happen in a love-letter to a group of fans.

The characters, as always, rocked very hard thanks to actors who know and love their roles; but some of the choices they made were unlike their TV versions. In particular, the heart-warming moments that I’d grown accustomed to in Firefly had disappeared. Connections between events in the film and some character’s back-stories just didn’t make sense. The new characters introduced in the movie had a TON of potential but their conclusive moments were major eye-rolling events that destroyed their memory and weakened the comparison between the movie and series.

A new season of Firefly on television is what the old-school fans really want - if a miracle happens and the TV series is resurrected with new episodes I’d LOVE it! In that dream-world, I might know what happened before, in-between and after the events in the film and be more comfortable with the choices made. I’m just sad because I don’t think the movie will provide the interest on either end (fan or average movie-goer) to demand that Sci-Fi or anyone else continue it and the tale will end on this sour note.

I hope I’m wrong.

From Londonist.com (28 August 2005) - NO SPOILERS

London Serenity Preview

Joss Whedon really is a talented bastard.

Not content with creating the Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Angel phenomenon he went one better by creating a great but ultimately doomed Sci Fi show called Firefly. Doomed because he foolishly gave American television an intelligent character driven series at a time when they were much more interested in ’creating’ lowest common denominator shows. Firefly was only ever partly aired and even then in the wrong order - TV executives not really understanding that whole story arc thing - before it was cancelled. Then a funny thing happened. The DVD sold like hot cakes filled with crack cocaine.

Universal showed they had much bigger balls than FOX and took the ’failed’ show and Joss under their wing and financed a movie. Since then nothing about Serenity has been normal and in the way that the DVD sales have forced a discussion about the future of how TV is made and distributed, so too has the irregular marketing campaign for the movie also set a few firsts. Last night’s screening in London happened at the same time as screenings in Birmingham, Manchester and Dublin. This was the first time outside of the Edinburgh Festival that the final finished cut of the movie has been shown and the fans were out in force.

We were on hand to be interviewed by geeks with iPod dictaphone attachments, watch shy nerds meet up for the first time offline and be thankful that no one showed up in costume.

We got a nice thank you from the UIP rep and then a filmed introduction from Joss Whedon before the movie started.

Once the film was over in wandered Joss Whedon with his leading lady, Summer Glau for a little unscheduled Q&A.

Spare a thought for the staff at the West End VUE who are probably still trying to get the stains off the seats in Screen 2.

As for the film itself, if you haven’t seen Firefly at all then it works really well as a stand alone movie BUT you will miss a hell of an emotional punch once things get past the half way point. If you’ve never seen the benefits of buying TV on DVD then we’d urge you to reconsider and check out the Firefly box set. The movie only opens in October so there’s plenty of time for terrestrial TV to get its act together and show the damn thing - it’s a LOT better than Lost for example. In fact the final part ’Objects in Space’ is about as perfect as television ever gets and it’s not even our favourite episode.

Those enlightened souls who have already familiarised themselves with the show are in for a hell of a treat once this opens.

Transferring mediums usually means a certain amount of dilution and change resulting in something new that fails both the original fans and the new audience. Whedon manages to pull off a neat trick here by remaining true to the heart of the show without alienating newcomers. Universal has backed him to the hilt and the full cast is back. He did mention afterwards that they asked for a really famous actor to play the bad guy - instead because they had a relatively small budget they simply went for the best actor around instead. Chiwetel Ejiofor nails this part - in fact he’s almost the best thing in the movie.

There’s a political element to the action that is nicely done amidst the explosions and mayhem, but as with the show everything here is about the characters. Whedon can write which puts Serenity way ahead of most films released this year. We’re not going to go into ANY detail because we know we’ll be hunted down and reaved if we spoil things, but we can feel very satisfied that we asked the first question of the night:

Londonist: Do you find it easy killing off cast members

Joss Whedon: Have you ever seen my stuff?

We’d love to reveal the rest of the answer and the rest of the Q&A in detail, but it was all too spoilerific. Be satisfied that if you’re still mourning Tara from Buffy then watching Serenity isn’t going to make you feel any better...

Buy the boxset, watch the movie. Hope for a sequel.

From Variety.com (25 August 2005) - MINOR SPOILERS

Serenity

A Universal Pictures release and production. Produced by Barry Mendel. Executive producers, Chris Buchanan, David Lester, Alisa Tager. Directed, written by Joss Whedon.

"I am a leaf on the wind: Watch how I soar," says one character in "Serenity" before being promptly made earthbound. The same could be said of this feature bow by writer-director Joss Whedon, creator of "Buffy" and "Angel" as well as cult TV sci-fi oater "Firefly," of which current item is a bigscreen continuation. Quirky blend of Western elements, high-end pulp philosophy, decorative Orientalia, old-style frontier dialogue and straight space shenanigans bounces around to sometimes memorable effect but rarely soars. Whedon’s sizable fan base will turn out in droves but this will need a hefty marketing push to post galactic returns.

Following its world premiere at the Edinburgh fest, pic goes out wide Stateside Sept. 30, a potentially risky gambit for a cult-fueled venture that would benefit from more time to build beyond its card-carrying audience. Though the widescreen movie contains a reasonable amount of action sequences, it was clearly made with considerably less coin than tentpole studio fare, and still shows a TV-style aptitude for soundstage sequences separated by occasional exteriors.

The Fox network axed "Firefly" in December 2002 after only 11 of the 14 completed episodes had aired. Series went on to immediate cult status on ancillary, and most of the key actors reprise their roles here. Major addition to the cast is Brit thesp Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Amistad," "Dirty Pretty Things" and upcoming "Kinky Boots"), who darn near steals the movie as the good guys’ ruthless nemesis.

Familiarity with the original episodes isn’t necessary, as a tight opening effectively recaps the backstory. We’re 500 years in the future, following a war in a newly colonized solar system that was won by a coalition called the Alliance; the losers, the Independents, roam the outer planets like frontier cowboys, along with the Reavers, thugs who eat their enemies live.

In an interesting idea that largely lies undeveloped -- and has some contempo relevance in a globalized world -- the Independents hate the Alliance because the latter are "in their homes, in their heads, (and) tell them what to think." The Alliance is also inside one particular head -- that of River Tam (Summer Glau), a 17-year-old telepath whose brother, Simon (Sean Maher), rescues her from Alliance boffins and security high-up the Operative (Ejiofor) in a pre-credits sequence that’s one of the best in the picture. Tone lightens as the main story and cast show up. Simon was helped in his mission by Capt. Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Nathan Fillion, channeling a combo of Harrison Ford and the late Eric Fleming from "Rawhide"), who heads the crew of Firefly-class spaceship Serenity, a rusty-bucket transport vessel. Also on board are his deputy, Zoe (Gina Torres), similarly dressed and holstered like a cowboy; Zoe’s husband, Wash (Alan Tudyk), the craft’s ace pilot; gruff gunslinger Jayne (Adam Baldwin, in a good impression of Warren Oates); and corn-fed farm girl Kaylee (Jewel Staite), the ship’s mechanic.

Main action sequence, realized like a space-age stagecoach-and-Injuns chase, comes early on, as Mal & Co. pull off a payroll robbery on an outer planet and are disturbed by Reavers. Thereafter, most of the action is confined to futuristic interiors -- handled OK but, excepting a late-on mano a mano by River, with no special atmosphere.

Pic’s appeal lies in other areas, from its mimicking of period, stately Americana in the dialogue (Mal: "No more runnin’; I aim to misbehave"; Jayne: "She is starting to damage my calm") to the plot itself. Latter leads Mal & Co., via River’s half-buried memories, to an uncharted planet called Miranda, wherein lies a terrible secret that the Alliance would like to remain buried.

Hot on their tails at all times is the Operative, plus assorted hungry Reavers. Oh, and there’s also Inara (Morena Baccarin), a professional "companion" for whom Mal still carries a torch.

Nobody seems to have told Whedon that many U.S. sci-fiers were already Westerns in futuristic dress, and that cross-cultural Eastern-Westerns were invented 40 years ago. What may have seemed fresh on network TV doesn’t look quite so fresh on the bigscreen.

Still, what makes "Serenity" refreshing is its avoidance of CGI, which gives the pic a much more human dimension; the evident chemistry between the cast; and a humor that doesn’t rely simply on flip one-liners. None of these smarts, however, may be enough to satisfy mass auds.

Fillion makes a commanding enough lead and is neatly backed up by a buff Torres as his femme sidekick, especially in a hold-the-fort sequence that recalls Jenette Goldstein’s character in "Aliens." Staite brings welcome fragility to the hard-assed crew as the tomboy mechanic, and former ballerina Glau brings neat moves to her action moments.

Sets look considerably airier than in the TV series, though Whedon directs his interior sequences in a visually constricted way that shows his small-screen origins. Colors have a mostly dark, unappetizing look that becomes a tad wearisome over two hours, and David Newman’s score does the business but never elevates the material.

Camera (Fotokem color, widescreen), Jack Green; editor, Lisa Lassek; music, David Newman; production designer, Barry Chusid; costume designer, Ruth Carter; sound (Dolby Digital/SDDS/DTS Digital), Arthur Rochester; visual effects supervisor, Loni Peristere; visual effects producer, Juliette Yager; special effects coordinator, Dan Sudick; stunt coordinator, Chad Stahelski; assistant director, Rich T. Sickler. Reviewed at Edinburgh Film Festival (Gala), Aug. 21, 2005. (Also in Deauville Film Festival.) MPAAMPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 119 MIN.

From Twitchfilm.com (23 August 2005) - NO SPOILERS

Edinburgh Film Festival Report: Serenity Review

Another missive from Richard Brunton in Edinburgh ... you may have seen this one up on The Movie Blog as well, but hey ... Richard offered it to us as well and I’ve been lusting after this film for a while now.

For me the biggest movie to go and see at the Edinburgh International Film Festival was Serenity. Not just because of two of the most gorgeous looking women on the screen just now, Gina Torres or Morena Baccarin, but because of the excellent writing I had heard while watching the TV series from which the movie continues, Firefly.

I am not quite through the entire TV series, but I am enjoying it, yet I’m not totally hooked. The thing is for me the series is still too episodic and the big story line that runs throughout the movie, River Tam, is far too frustrating to hang in with for a long period of time. I mean her lines really are nonsensical, and I couldn’t see connections except on a few episodes where she would mumble something and later in the episode you would see what she was referring to and you realised, she’s not just mad. So the series didn’t really hook me in enough, but still, I wanted to see the movie because it was big, a premiere, two stunning ladies are in it, and Joss Whedon’s clever scripting.

The movie kicks off straight into the action in a very strong way. You’re hooked from the opening moment, and not having seen the ending of the series, the opening is a bit of a shock too. Oh, before I go too far I will let you know that I’m going to write this totally spoiler free.

This is a running theme with the movie, it’s got some really good action sequences. Actually, no, it’s got some excellent action sequences. Something I often notice about movies with set pieces of action is that they stand out, and the gaps between them can often highten your awareness of the sequences and they stick out from the movie. Not here. In this film although there are sequences of action, they don’t stand out from the rest of the movie, and the action actually feels constant throughout. I don’t think Whedon let’s up much throughout the movie.

It’s Whedon that does some excellent work here, bringing the movie from the realms of an early evening TV series to a harder hitting, darker and slightly more complex tale. The clever scripting of dialogue and character interplay is still here from the series, and it’s been ramped up a bit more too. It’s this dialogue and interplay that make the characters so alluring to the audience, making them so different but running with common beliefs keeping them together. Whedon really has to be applauded for that. It bodes extremely well for his coming movies, and hopefully another Serenity or two.

He’s added some to the characters too. Making the Captain more complex and revealing a bit more of his darker element, which during the second act seems to hint at a huge group split, this is not the happy band as in the series. Taking this dialogue and the interplay and turning it into a believable performance that the audience can connect with is a big job for the actors, and for the most part they pull it off really well. I’d say that some of the roles do rely on previous knowledge, as does some of the dialogue between them, but it won’t spoil the movie if you haven’t seen the series, just lessen the experience.

There are some great moments, and really funny ones too. The Press audience I was with (and the mad row behind me of cinema staff) did laugh out loud quite a few times, and all down to the dialogue and most often from the Captain or Jayne. There’s a nice little scene early on discussing grenades which tails off into a conversation behind the main dialogue, I liked that and thought it was cleverly done. It was also still keeping the same level of the writing even though you probably wouldn’t hear it.

The whole character introduction sequence is very well put together now that I think about it. It wasn’t until late on into it I realised I was being taken on a quick tour of introduction, with the camera constantly moving around the ship and talking to each character on board. It was a nice scene for those that have come from the series, and I would think the new audience too.

It’s not all great though, looking back on the series the movie story is huge, and continues to build as it progresses. I couldn’t help but feel that Whedon was writing this as the last outing of the Universe and that the plot had to be much, much bigger than the series and that it had to have a feeling of completeness, rounding everything nicely at the end. I’m not sure it needed to go so big, and so complete. It feels now that there is nowhere for another film to go.

The ending was also a little bit of a let down, there is a crucial moment at the end which is just too neat for me, and a couple of twee scenes throughout. The before-attack-"I love you" speech was a bit too stock and I shook my head in disbelief at how much it stuck out, but then Whedon managed to pull it back just enough with some of his clever dialogue.

That is indeed the key to this movie, Whedon’s writing, it’s superb. The dialogue is sharp, witty, quickfire and sarcasm filled. He’s also got a great understanding of how to pull the audience’s strings. Tension, suspense and impending danger often twist around in a shocking or explosive moment delivering a good deal of the entertainment value. He’s without a doubt a great writer and director and he shows it here, he’s a great entertainer.

I really liked this movie, it was great fun. However I faltered a little at the end with the storyline, and wished it could have been a little less mammoth, and a little less complete. Firefly fans will positively adore this movie, and those new to the story should love it and be interested enough to return to the series. I think it’s a really safe bet to say we’ll be seeing more of this crew in the future.

From Scotsman.com (23 August 2005) - NO SPOILERS

Creator of Buffy slays them with film debut

THE big screen debut of Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, premiered at the Edinburgh Film Festival yesterday, with hundreds of fans descending on the Scottish capital for one of the most eagerly anticipated movies of the year.

Spawned from the cancelled TV series Firefly, the new film, Serenity, sold out within hours of the festival box office opening last month. Two extra screenings were hastily scheduled to meet the huge demand, both of which also quickly sold out. In fact, tickets sold out so quickly that they crashed the festival’s computers and led to a bidding war on eBay.

Strong reviews for Serenity, the story of a small band of galactic outcasts set 500 years in the future, promised to seal its place as the big film of this year’s film festival.

Extra crowd control staff were laid on at Cineworld to cope with the large numbers of fans expected to turn up as the entire cast of the $45 million film descended on Edinburgh for the premiere.

The stars included Nathan Fillion, whose leading role as a disillusioned spaceship captain has had fans putting his performance on a par with Harrison Ford’s in Star Wars. "What I do is not so much an homage to Harrison Ford, as copy him," he said.

And the actress Summer Glau, a slender former ballet dancer who plays the deadly River, told an enthusiastic audience of film writers and critics how she built up her combat skills for the movie.

Whedon said yesterday that the Serenity story was inspired by Western tales of frontier life - "how people lived in an age before everything was convenient and could be beamed to your house".

"To be premiering here is exactly where I want to be," Whedon said. "Not just because I love it here, but because we do have fans who wouldn’t expect to be the first people to see this. There’s a lot of people in LA going, ’What?’"

Serenity, which opens in the United States on 30 September, was an unlikely choice for Edinburgh. "It’s almost a cult movie, but it’s going to be very hot and popular," Ginnie Atkinson, the film festival’s managing director, predicted.

However, there is evidence that the film’s appearance at a festival away from Hollywood is part of a carefully cultivated marketing campaign. Entertainment Weekly reported recently that the film has had more than 60 "sneak previews" to try to boost interest among internet-busy fans.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a huge hit in the UK, with some critics noting a British sense of humour - even traces of Monty Python. There is a similar feel about Serenity.

Whedon and his cast joked that the making of Serenity was "revenge" after Firefly was cancelled by an American TV network after 11 low-rated episodes.

His next project is the making of a new Wonder Woman film, but Whedon is already thinking about a sequel to Serenity, he revealed.

A very different film, Tsotsi, a tough tale of redemption among the gangs of a South African township, is leading the vote for the audience award at the festival, according to Ms Atkinson. "Tsotsi is obviously a very heart warming and interesting film that has grabbed the audience. It shows what diverse fare the audience are interested in," she said.

From telegraph.co.uk (14 August 2005) - NO SPOILERS

For sheer, joyful entertainment, though, there’s no question as to this festival’s hottest ticket: the world première of Joss Whedon’s Serenity. A science fiction western based on Whedon’s cult television series Firefly, it picks up where the series left off, pitting Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) and his rogue crew of small-time rebels against the military might of a superpower called The Alliance. Between them lies the mystery of River Tam (Summer Glau), a psychic assassin who holds the key to the future of the universe.

As the man responsible for Buffy The Vampire Slayer, perhaps only Whedon could conceive of a science fiction western - and pull it off with such élan. His command of form and playful delight in extending it serve him well again here; Serenity delivers all the thrills, spills and eye-popping explosions one could demand of a big studio blockbuster.

A complex ensemble piece without major stars, it has characters to care about, a keenly political intelligence, and some of the most cracking banter since Howard Hawks was in his prime. It deserves to be a huge hit when it’s released next month.