Serenity Rocks!!

I went to see Joss Whedon's Serenity this past weekend and I have to say, it is Whedon at his best. For the uninitiated, Joss Whedon was the writer/producer of the hit series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but less well-known was his short-lived sci-fi series, Firefly. The latter lasted less than one season, but in my opinion, deserved better. The show revolved around the crew of Serenity, a Firefly-class starship. Led by Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (played by Canadian actor Nathan Fillion), the crew of misfits tries to get by on the fringe of a harsh interplanetary empire known as the Alliance. Captain Reynolds and his righthand woman, Zoe, are veterans of a failed insurrection against the Alliance. The pilot, Wash, the engineer, Kaylee and the muscle, Jayne make up the rest of the crew. Add to that, the preacher, Shepherd Book (played by Ron Glass of Barney Miller fame) , the courtesan, Inara, the doctor, Simon and his enigmatic sister, River.

The movie, Serenity, revolves around River. In the TV series, we learn that River was subject to some kind of experimentation at the hands of the Alliance as a result of her mysterious psychic abilities. Her older brother Simon, rescued her from the research facility and the two are on the run from the authorities who desperately want her back. Captain Reynolds figures if the hated Alliance wants her back badly enough to pursue her to the edge of explored space then that's reason enough to protect her. I won't give away anything from the movie, but the humour we've come to expect from Firefly, as well as the dark vision of the future are both present in good measure. All that was missing was that awesome theme song.

-Rognar-