Serenity (2005)

Title: Serenity
Director: Joss Whedon
Genre: Sci-Fi/Action
Highs:
Lows:
RhynoBot Grade: C+

When this movie came out in the theater I was so excited to see. The thought being, finally a good Sci-Fi movie. Plus everyone that saw Serenity in the theater just raved about how great it was. I bought it hook line and sinker, so my expectations were really high. Big mistake! Maybe it looses something in the translation from big screen to small screen or maybe the people that were raving about the movie were bigger fans of the TV series "Firefly" then I realized but to me this was nothing more then a bigger budget Sci-Fi Channel movie. The special effect were nothing special, I have seen the equivalent on Sci-Fi channels TV series "Battlestar Galactica". Character development was non-existent, I assume this is because the movie was written and produced for the numerous fans of the TV show, but that leaves the rest of us out in the cold that have never seen the series. The story was a little weak as well, kind of a cross between "The Minority Report", with the whole psychic girl thing, and "Resident Evil", with the whole corporation creating cannibalistic zombie type creatures.

The concept for the movie has merit but to me it seemed like a TV show. Now that really begs the question, would I still have the same opinion if I didn't know about the TV show Firefly prior to seeing the movie? That we will never know for sure but I have seen enough TV turned movies (Star Trek: TNG, X-Files, etc.) to recognize one when I see it so I suspect it would still stink of TV even if I didn't know.

So, I am still looking for that ever elusive smart, creative, Sci-Fi Action movie. I'm not sure it will ever happen until someone starts making movies from Arthur C. Clarke novels. Come on Morgan Freeman it's time to get "Rendezvous With Rama" under production!!! (He owns the rights from what I have read and would be perfect for the lead role.)

This is a mediocre movie, you can skip it.