Reviewing the reviews: 'Serenity'

Eric Sun, Oct 16, 2005 at 11:51 PM EST

I too am a big fan of Whedon's work, on TV. "Buffy", "Angel", and "Firefly" were all great shows. "Firefly" was perhaps the best. It had a good premise, interesting characters in an ensemble cast, terrific writing.

So of course it was cancelled.

And then Joss went and did something stupid.

He took this great show with a fanatical fan cult, and turned it into a piece of crap movie.

He radically altered the universe in which the show was set.
He ignored his own past scripts and drastically changed the background and personalities of half the characters.
He inserts situations in which even a person with a room temperature IQ could spot the glaring plot holes.

And he stole from "Bladerunner" "Hackers" and "Hot Shots" (Part 1 and Part Deux)

And the usual banter and quips from the characters that made the show such a joy to watch were stilted and forced. It was almost as if you could hear Joss in the background saying "Laugh now. And ...now!"

I didn't. I damn near wept.

Esther Kustanowitz Mon, Oct 3, 2005 at 12:30 PM EST

I would call the acting more than just decent. The only real problem with the movie is that it didn't give each character enough time in the spotlight, something that's better achieved by having a TV show with weekly episodes. Still, I was glad to all the characters again. Even if for some of them, it was the last time...

As I've said on my blog, Joss Whedon may be my master now. And I totally love him. Until he rips my heart out.

Liza Sun, Oct 2, 2005 at 02:48 AM EST

I am a huge Joss Whedon fan and after watching his shows and seeing Serenity on Friday I have to say I'm even bigger fan now. I am also a loyal reader of Entertainment weekly.I just wanted to say that its dissapointing to see the newest covers of EW didn't feature a Serenity photo. I could understand if EW didn't care at all, but this magazine has given Joss and his failed show turned movie, lots of print space and I've read some really interesting articles from the writers about the show, the movie, and even the marketing of the film. So, why was Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst featured and Nathon Fillion only got one pic and one page? Elizabethtown already has enough publicity and I don't think it would've hurt EW to show Serenity a little love.

Oh and if anyone out there liked the movie but didn't see the show should really check it out b/c the show is just as funny, exciting, and dramatic. I would recommend starting from the beginning but, an episode that is especially good would be "Out of Gas" b/c it shows the backstory of many of the characters, even the ship.

Lea Sat, Oct 1, 2005 at 12:43 AM EST

Having missed the original series (FIREFLY) and knowing nothing about it, I went (or was dragged to) the film with my STAR WARS/ STAR TREK loving boyfriend. After drudging through the beginnings of high-falutent sci-fi language, I began to just relax and enjoy the movie. After a while, I was guffawling with the rest of the crowd. I must say that I was impressed by how the tale was spun into a complex story with such a deep message. I must say that I had an absolute ball watching the film and will not hesitate to go to the next sci-fi movie with my boyfriend.

Ep Sato Fri, Sep 30, 2005 at 01:24 PM EST

There's no Place I can be, since I found Serenity...

Having seen this movie twice before it even hit the movie theaters, I can say with confidence that this is science fiction at it's best! Finally a sci fi movie with a brain, decent acting, and best of all, dialogue worth repeating (when was the last time a science fiction movie had decent writing...was it in 1982 with Blade Runner? It's been a while)