Go See Serenity

So, maybe you’re not a sci-fi fan.  Maybe you don’t like spending $10 on a movie ticket.  Maybe you never even heard of this movie before. You  could have many reasons for not seeing this move.

You might be saying to yourself, "Serenity?  What is that?  Sounds like a chick flick." Well, it’s the antithesis of a girlie movie.  Serenity is Joss Whedon’s creation based on a ‘sci-fi meets western‘ television series that showed on Fox a few years back.  I’ve mentioned this show in a previous post, Firefly.  It was prematurely cancelled by the Fox execs but has drummed up a huge following.  The DVD of the season’s original episodes sold very well, reaching #2 on amazon.com’s best-selling DVD list at one point. 

The movie was just as smart, funny and exciting as the series (currently in re-runs on the SciFi channel) if a little more sci-fi than western in its theatrical incarnation.  Although you probably won’t recognize any of the actors (all the same from the TV series), this ensemble cast really does an incredible job of bringing the characters and story to life.  The basic story is this:  some time in the future after using up Earth, we found a new solar system and settled there, terra-forming planets and moons to make them habitable.  The Alliance waged a war to bring all the planets under their control and there was a rebellion.  The main characters, the crew of a transport ship named Serenity, spend their days trying to scrape out a living on the edge of Alliance controlled territories taking whatever work (sometimes honest) that comes their way.  They have taken on several passengers including a brother and sister that are fugitives from the Alliance.  The near techno-utopian future portrayed on the Allied worlds is contrasted with some of the frontier worlds that do not benefit from the fancy gadgets.  Our heroes spend most of their time on these dusty, backwater planets trying to dodge the Alliance.  The movie has alot to offer: spaceships, high tech future gadgetry, kung-fu fighting, a ninja sword, love stories, humor, horror, commentary on religion, politics and philosophy.

If none of that convinces you, try this one–Megan liked the movie, too.  She fully expected to hate this film (especially when we arrived late and had to sit in the front row), but afterward she said "this movie completely exceeded all my expectations."  So there you go.  It won the approval of a sci-fi geek and a chick flick lover.  What more can you ask from one film. Go see it!