SERENITY (2005) ¢ ¢ ¢ 1/2
D: Joss Whedon
Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Adam Baldwin,
Summer Glau, Alan Tudyk, Jewel Staite,
Sean Maher, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nectar Rose
"Serenity" traces its origin to a short-lived cult television show called "Firefly", so it seems likely that fans of the TV show will know more about what's going on here than the rest of us. On its own, it's a good, little ($40 million) B movie, ripped off from "Star Wars" and a dozen other sources, about the crew of a freelance merchant spacecraft who reluctantly take on the protection of a telepathic girl who's being hunted down by an assassin on behalf of a repressive interplanetary government. There's more to it than that, but not enough to get in the way of all the spaceship chases and gun battles and fist fights and things blowing up and stuff. The characters speak an arcane jargon that occasionally slips into something like Chinese, and there's a bantering camaraderie among the crew that suggests relationships partly formed in previous episodes, to be filled out in later ones. It's a movie that seems completely at ease with its modest aspirations, smart enough to hold your attention and goofy enough to keep you entertained. Hey, ya know what? It'd make a great television show.
