Serenity

2005
Mutant Enemy
Director: Joss Whedon
Length: 119 min.
Format: DVD
Date Viewed: 27 January

Serenity is another in a long line of film based on TV shows that feels like a two-parter that somehow got a theatrical release. The sets, lighting and framing has a distinct television quality to it (strange, then, that cinematographer Jack Green has only one TV episode to sizable filmography), the story doesn't amount to a whole lot and it tries to wrap up loose ends from the Firefly series. All this, however, matters very little in the case of Serenity; it doesn't take itself very seriously and just wants to have a whole lot of fun. The cowboys-in-space idea generally works (though the dialogue often feels forced, like it was written by someone who hasn't seen a Western since he was a boy), and gives a much needed fresh angle to the science-fiction genre. The film is often very funny and the battles are exciting, which reveals some unpolished directorial talent in Joss Whedon, who should have two films out in the next two years. Let's just hope they too don't feel like a TV show on the big screen.