By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Director: Joss Whedon
Starring: Alan Tudyk | Gina Torres | Nathan Fillion
Country: united_states
Year: 2005
Running time: 95
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/combined
Tom says: “Let’s get this out of the way right now. SERENITY > RISE OF THE SITH. By a long, long shot. Lucas should have hired on Joss Whedon to write the latest Trilogy fiasco. The characters and dialog are so far above any blockbuster release I’ve
seen in ages.
“For those of you who don’t know, and from the ratings it received, I’d say most of you, SERENITY is the feature-length conclusion to the cancelled Fox sci-fi series ‘Firefly.’ I’m as guilty as anyone else, having not watched it until they re-aired the pilot just after deciding to cancel the show. I enjoyed the pilot enough to rent the DVDs when they came out, and I fell so hard for the series that I watched all 13 episodes in a span of 36 hours.
“I’d have to guess that the DVD series did so well that they greenlighted a movie, which I was lucky enough to catch a pre- screening of last night. I went in expecting a mediocre sci-fi movie and instead got a great one. They did a great job in keeping the fans happy while brining the newcomer up to speed. They also did a great job bringing in elements of the story from the series and lasting consequences. The great dialog and characters I enjoyed from the series were just as enjoyable in the move as well.
“I want this movie to be the kick to the nuts Lucas got from THE MATRIX and SPIDERMAN 2 when he made his previous 2 crapfests, but since people seem to be very forgiving to the awful new one, I don’t see it happening. Not to mention that Serenity suffers from no star-power, despite great turns from almost all the cast. While there wasn’t much of a budget for a sci-fi action
movie ($40 million is what I was hearing), the effects and sets didn’t suffer in my eyes.
“September 30th, 2005. Circle that date on your calendar. The series is also available on netflix. I think you’ll like both of them.”