Serenity

The second movie of this weekend was Serenity, the movie spin-off from the failed Joss Whedon science-fiction series, Firefly. Whedon's reputation, with the likes of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and Angel, precedes him and this is in no way going to diminish that or his fan base - this is one excellent science-fiction movie...

Serenity is the name of a privateer spaceship, plying its sometimes illegal trade on the fringes of Alliance controlled space. The crew, led by Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), are mostly outcasts or on the run so make the best living they can while keeping a low profile.

The latest additions to the crew are doctor Simon Tam (Sean Maher) and his sister River (Summer Glau). River is telepathic but also a bit disturbed and when she goes berserk and single-handedly beats up an entire bar full of roughnecks, it becomes obvious to Reynolds that she's much more than she seems.

When the incident is noticed, the Serenity is suddenly high on the wanted list so with a ruthless Alliance hunter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) on their trail, they go looking for someone called Miranda to find the secret to River's suddenly revealed talents. The only thing is, it looks like they're going to have to go deep into Reaver territory to do it.

Whedon's script is truly excellent, it'll have you laughing, crying and whooping along with the action, which is plentiful. Fans of Buffy and Angel will be familiar with the style of dialogue but it works so well here and the cast pull it off to a tee.

I haven't seen Firefly so it was all new to me and I have to admit to having had some worries about the "Western" aspects of the stories. For example, Captain Reynolds favours a six-shooter as the weapon of choice and, while that may seem strange, it works among the rough and ready edges of civilized space.

It'd be nice to see Firefly resurrected by the studios but I can't see it happening, those guys only see things in dollar bills and it was very expensive to produce. My daughter has Firefly on DVD so I'm definitely going to borrow that and get more into it.

Genre: Action, Adventure, Science Fiction.
My Rating 8/10