 "Photo: yahoo! movies")
 "Photo: yahoo! movies")
The original cast from a canceled TV show, the outer reaches of space, a mentally deranged girl and - cannibals?
These don't really sound like ingredients for a mainstream movie, but add writer/director Joss Whedon, the creator of the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and things begin to boil. This science-fiction brew is exhilarating till the last drop.
At the beginning of Star Trek, the captain always calls space "the final frontier." In Serenity, the feature-length adaptation of the short-lived TV series Firefly, this idea is taken literally - it's a space western set 500 years in the future on a smuggling ship, Serenity.
When the crew of Serenity, a band of misfits led by Capt. Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), takes on two new passengers, a young doctor and his unstable, telepathic sister, River, they get more than they bargained for.
River is a fugitive running from the Alliance, the coalition dominating the universe, which will stop at nothing to reclaim her.
The crew thus finds itself on the run from a ruthless government operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) - not to mention from vicious cannibals called Reavers - but the greatest threat to them might be River herself.
Making Serenity out of an already established series must have been a difficult undertaking. New viewers need to understand the plot and characters, but cult fans can't be disappointed with endless exposition. (In fact, Whedon screened the film to thousands of people in order to make sure the film satisfies both.)
For the most part, the film gives the audience what they want. Though it starts out a little confusing, it winds its way to a cathartic narrative crescendo, full of plot twists, intergalactic battle scenes, and last ditch attempts to save humanity.
Whedon pulls out all the stops to give his story a real mix of gravitas and humor. In addition, the cast gives excellent performances, which they mastered during the series.
Fillion is especially good as Capt. Reynolds; he can handle the mix of humor and drama, looking natural as the leader of outlaws and giving John Wayne a run for his money as lead cowboy. Also, Ejiofor as the operative, a character not from the series, is pitch-perfect as the merciless villain and self-proclaimed monster.
And, following in the footsteps of Buffy, the vampire slayer, and even Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, River is the epitome of the female warrior. Summer Glau plays her with all the quirkiness, eeriness, and sheer power that the character needs in order to drive the movie forward.
Serenity, however, is not perfect. It does suffer slightly from the fact that it had 14 episodes of plot already established in the series. Unfortunately, the characters are less developed and the ensemble is slightly confusing to understand.
Newcomers to the mythology have to expect that some things will go unexplained. But though the film is perhaps hampered by the television series, it is in no means harmed.
Serenity is full of the exciting chases, witty humor, and celestial grandeur that made Star Wars a cult blockbuster and that makes this movie so entertaining. And, no, it isn't Star Wars, but for those interested in this space western, Serenity gives good reason to saddle up.
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