If you never watched the series Firefly by Joss Whedon *(Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Angel) this film may not be for you. If you're sci-fi nut (i.e. You gave 'Chronicles of Riddick' a chance and ended up liking it.) go see this movie.
The acting: good.
The story: basic.
The special effects: enough to add to it and not detract from the movie.
The movie picks up where the TV series leaves off and does an admiral job of tying up the loose ends. For those of you dragged off to this movie because your date wants to go; the story gives you enough background to get into the story and that's about it.
The crew of Serenity are a bunch of rag-tag misfits that found a way to work together and carve out some existence in a world mainly controlled by the Alliance. Their goal: to survive this job and try and get another one. Their meager existence is trickled to non-existent because of their general refusal to do jobs that bring them in close proximity to the Alliance. This is due to two passengers the Serenity crew carries. These two people are being hunted by the Alliance. With the daily pressure of survival and the threat of discovery hanging over their heads the crew of Serenity are at odds end. With a captain who's lost in a world that was and never will be again. With the demands of leadership taking its toll and the crews' tempers always running hot and close the surface. The captain has his hands full. We watch as the crew is forced to take a stand and fight for something to believe in. That belief in it of its self may reside in one 17 year old girl with a 'gift'.
You can see the parallels to current events that Whedon subtly interjects into the movie. I gather our (when I say our I mean 'the good ole USofA; seeing as I live there) current administration and its allies (as few as that is) would possibly represent the Alliance and everyone else would be the outlying planets. The blatant moral superiority that reeks of the Bush administration/Alliance and its benevolence of teaching the poor bastards that don't know better or are too stupid to realize that their way is the right way. All under a unerring belief that they really are right and only want good things. Whedon makes this point as clear as day.
The fragile balance of right and wrong is clearly defined in this movie by the lack of it. Everyday life for them is scratching out an existence where the money protects its self and crumbs are all you have. Stealing from folks just like you just to make it to tomorrow. Unfortunately too many people know what that's like. Having to choose between your morals and dinner. For most its not so easy to sit on that high horse when the horse would make a good dinner.
Seeing as I got so far off topic I'll bring it round back. All in all its a must see for fans of the TV series 'Firefly'. For the Sci-fi nut its a have-a-look-see. For everyone else you might want to wait till it hits cable. I really can't say its a rental. I guess it would be a 5-day rental. (If you haven't signed up for one of them nifty Netflix dealtype thingies.) As for the DVD only if you already own the DVD box set of the show should you buy this title when it comes to DVD.
On a Scale of 0 to 5.
I'd give it a 2.
*NOTE
My rating scale is damn tough cause there's a lot of crap out there to wade through.
Here's what you gotta do to get a 5.
To be 5 worthy you gotta be Lord of the Rings good.
To be 0 you gotta be Corky Romano bad.
To spend $10 (them thar are city prices) you gotta rate at least a 2.
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Additional information provided by IMDB. (International Movie Data Base)
