As a late fan of the Firefly series (I watched it after it was cancelled and played in reruns on SciFi), I missed the whole "save Firefly" campaign that was successful in convincing a studio to back a feature film version, but I'm glad it worked.

Things I liked:

-The film obviously had a higher budget, which meant better special effects (not that Firefly's were bad).
-The story was even-paced and well-written.
-It tied up a few loose ends from the series.
-The scene where the fleet waiting for Serenity spots the fleet pursuing Serenity emerge from the cloud was fantastic.
-Kaylee got her way (if you've seen it, you know what I mean).


Things I didn't like:

-They abandoned the whole "no sound in space" thing that was one of their traits (I've read that the studio insisted a wider audience wouldn't like it). The producers have tried to minimize it by saying that it's in space, but sort of in the higher atmosphere where *some* sound might carry, but that's pretty weak.
-They killed off at least one character who died pretty much to prove that the situation was grim and the rest of the crew could die at any moment. It worked, but it was a pretty sad way to get rid of a main character.
-There's a scene where the crew of Serenity is fighting pursuing enemies and they make a stand in a hallway, with plans to fall back behind a blast door and seal it. When they get the crap kicked out of them, they fall back and seal the door, at which time the enemies can't get in. Why didn't they just seal the blast door in the first place and wait?
-Some of the crew interaction seemed "off." One of the series episodes has the captain going out of his way and risking his crew to save the doctor, and when asked why he says "Because you're part of my crew." In contrast, much of the opening is the captain making certain the doctor knows he's not welcome and trying to find a planet on which to leave him. The "close-knit family" motif of the series eventually comes back, but the crew seems very formal and cold for the first half of the movie.
-We found out where the Reavers come from (a secret of the series), but another entire subplot (Shepherd Book's secret past) is completely ignored (and won't be tied up now), which is disappointing.
-My favorite character was . . . thinner. The actress who played her intentionally gained 20 pounds for the series part and then lost it after the series was cancelled (and didn't regain it for the movie). Personally, I think she looked better during the series.

All in all, it was quite enjoyable, and I hope it can be parlayed into a film series (those are the rumors, anyway). If you haven't seen it yet, go do so. :)

Posted at 2:09 PM.  |     |   Permalink to this post.