Serenity (2005) Movie Review

Okay, so it’s taken me three years to finally sit down and watch Joss Whedon’s big-screen sci-fi actioner “Serenity”. In my defense, let me just say that while I enjoyed the uncut pilot for Firefly, the TV series precursor to “Serenity”, that I saw a few years back, I did not fall in love with it. Then again, I only watched the pilot after the show had been cancelled by FOX, so in that respect, I suppose I didn’t exactly have any incentives to become attached to the show.

As a result, when Whedon was finally able to gather up the funding for a feature-length Firefly movie (called “Serenity”, also the name of the Firefly-class transport ship that the characters call home), I did not exactly rush to the theaters to see it. Or rush to Blockbusters to rent the DVD. But hey, better late than never, right?

“Serenity” the movie picks up where the series left off: Mal (Nathan Fillion), the Serenity’s captain and his trusty sidekick, Zoe (Gina Torres), along with tough guy Jayne (Adam Baldwin), do what semi-good guys do when you’re stuck in outer space with no prospects — they rob people. In the midst of the robbery, which goes as planned with the assistance of psychic River (Summer Glau), a horde of cannibal humans called Reavers show up for a little dinner. The crew of Serenity escapes with their flesh intact, but their problems are only just getting started.

Many months ago, River and her brother Simon (Sean Maher) had arrived onboard Serenity with no history and few answers. As it turns out, River is the product of an experiment by the Alliance, the tyrannical rulers of Serenity’s universe, a confederation of know-it-alls that Mal and Zoe once fought against in a war that they lost. Now, the Alliance has dispatched an operative, a man with no name (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) to find River and kill her, in the process destroying whatever secrets River holds in her mind that the Alliance doesn’t want exposed.

Unfortunately for River, she’s still not fully in control of herself, much less whatever nugget of secret the Alliance believed is lost in her mind. Although she does remember one thing: a planet called “Miranda”, a word that triggers quite an episode in young River.

The Operative’s pursuit of River makes up the bulk of the film’s narrative, with Mal and Serenity caught in the middle. In this situation, Mal’s best move is to give up the girl and her brother, but that’s just not the kind of man he is. And so Mal fights, and is chased by the Operative, who we come to learn is a True Believer, a man who so accepts the way of the Alliance that he is willing to kill, slash, and burn anything that stands in its way. He himself expects no rewards for his service, and as he tells Mal, he is a monster, and there is no room in an Alliance-controlled world for one such as he. To put it mildly, the guy has tragedy written all over him.

So where does that leave Mal? Caught between a rock and a very, very hard place, especially when they are forced to venture into Reavers territory to find the answers that the Alliance is so desperate to keep hidden. Along the way, writer/director Joss Whedon finds the time to do some crazy things with Summer Glau’s character, not to mention the actress’ ballerina background. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a small, thin, frail-looking girl like Summer Glau wipe clean a bar full of huge men, and then later on in the film — well, I won’t spoil it, but it’s quite the fight sequence, complete with blades dripping with blood.

You can see why Whedon’s Firefly became such a cult hit with fans, the same ones that gobbled up the DVDs of the show after it was cancelled. Their patronage was more than enough to convince the studio to finance an expensive feature-length movie, and I would have to believe that their faith in Whedon was rewarded with “Serenity”. I am not one of the show’s rabid fans, but it’s easy to see the charm of Mal and company, and the anachronistic “cowboys in space” world that Whedon has created with Firefly and successfully transplanted over to “Serenity”. This is just a very new and very cool world that needs more exploration.

Unfortunately “Serenity” didn’t exactly light the box office on fire upon its release in 2005, and a sequel is very doubtful as a result. Money equals surefire sequel in Hollywood parlance. I don’t know the figures for the movie’s DVD sales, but it would have to be staggering for a studio to once again hand the money over to Whedon for a sequel. And a direct-to-DVD sequel would seem to be out of the question, as I would imagine the budget for “Serenity” had to have been pretty high, at least too high to justify a straight dump to DVD.

Where does that leave the crew of Serenity? Who is to say that another network couldn’t offer a second season of Firefly a home. The Sci Fi Channel is currently doing wonderful things with original sci-fi programming, and Firefly would be right at home on Friday nights after Stargate: Atlantis, for example. Think about it, Sci Fi Channel.

Joss Whedon (director) / Joss Whedon (screenplay)
CAST: Nathan Fillion … Mal
Gina Torres … Zoe
Alan Tudyk … Wash
Morena Baccarin … Inara
Adam Baldwin … Jayne
Jewel Staite … Kaylee
Sean Maher … Simon
Summer Glau … River
Ron Glass … Shepherd Book
Chiwetel Ejiofor … The Operative