Serenity By Hervé St.Louis Sep 5, 2005 - 8:31:00 PM

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Serenity
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Ron Glass, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Raphael Feldman, Sean Maher, Chjwetel Ejiofor, Summer Glau, David Krumholtz, Michael Hitchcock, Yan Feldman, Logan O'Brien, Terrell Tilford, Scott Kinworthy, Ryan Tasz, Tamara Taylor, Glenn Howerton
Director: Joss Whedon
Producer: Barry Mendel
Screenwriter: Joss Whedon
MPAA Rating: PG-13 - for sequences of intense violence and action, and some sexual references
Release Company: Universal Pictures

Serenity is a movie based on the continuing the continuity begun in Firefly, the six-episodes science fiction series featured on Fox in 2002 created by Josh Whedon of Buffy and Angel fame. Serenity is the name of the space craft where Captain Malcolm Reynolds heads a crew of try to flee from the Alliance with their siblings Dr. Simon Tam and his young psychic sister, River. Trained and drugged by the Alliance, River knows many secrets about the order that dominates the galaxy.

A tragic and exciting story, Serenity has many inside jokes and makes a lot reference to the Firefly series. However, if you are not an existing Firefly fan, Serenity you may feel left out in some scenes. The movie’s introduction made me feared that I was sitting in front of another Matrix / Ghost in the Shell, but fortunately, it wasn’t. Serenity is an interesting movie to watch because its actors are all minor figures from television. The focus is on the story rather than a power name actor. One issue that was caused a problem with some viewers in the audience was that the telepath girl’s name, River, was too similar to some of the villains, called Reavers. A constant question was what happened with the people who stayed on Earth. Seeing some of that explored would have been fun. Another question is why are they but humans in this universe. One wonders when Whedon will answer all these interesting questions.

The set design was great, although not without as much polish as say, the last Star Wars movie. The spacecrafts didn’t seem as real though. The characters sported suits that seemed vaguely similar to 20th Century clothing. They looked like toy models. The Reavers’ and the Alliance’s ship are just another run of the mill uninspired 3D models that are not memorable. Well, the Reavers’ ships are memorable, but not because of their modelling. As Serenity is the heroes’ ship name, something more eye-catching like, say, Captain Harlock’s space ship would have been better.

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