When the cult “space western” TV series Firefly was cancelled after only a handful of episodes were made, there was an outcry – and creator/writer/director Joss Whedon (Buffy The Vampire, Angel) was listening. It was too good to die. So much love, and so much effort had been put in to create a great mythology, great stories – amazing characters all infused with funny and hip dialogue. Thankfully, it wasn’t just Joss Whedon who was listening. Fox TV had dropped the ball. Universal Pictures and producer Barry Mendel (The Sixth Sense) were waiting there to pick it up. Not only were everyone’s favourite space cowboys returning… they were coming to the big screen! On its fifth anniversary we take a look at writer/director Joss Whedon’s Serenity – one of the most under-rated sci-fi thrillers ever made.

Our story begins when our villain, known only as The Operative (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is watching a security hologram of Dr Simon Tam (Sean Maher) rescuing his sister River (Summer Glau) from a top secret research facility. Disgusted at the staff’s negligence in allowing this to happen, he kills them all – and muses on where River is now hiding.

Quickly we found out that for the last year or so, she’s been hiding out on the spaceship Serenity – with its crew of ex “brown coat” soldiers, and other assorted misfits. Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) is the captain and former soldier – on the losing side of a major intergalactic war. Zoe Washburne (Gina Torres) is second in command, who also fought alongside him as they were defeated by The Alliance.

Hoban “Wash” Washburne is Zoe’s husband and the ship’s pilot. Jayne Cobb (Adam Baldwin) is the ship’s “muscle”, a dim witted former criminal. Kaylee Frye (Jewel Staite) is the ship’s mechanic – secretly in love with Simon Tam who now works as the ship’s doctor. Having lived with River and Simon for a while now, the crew cotton onto the fact that River has some rather unusual abilities which border on precognition. Something they realise that can be put to great use.

The crew of the ship travel through the star system going from planet to planet – taking jobs both legal and illegal in an effort to stay alive and just “keep flying”. Hoping one day for that final job that will make them rich. The Alliance is chasing them, they want River back. Realising River’s importance to the alliance, the crew (often reluctantly) strive to protect Simon and River – as any enemy of the alliance is a friend of theirs.

We join our crew as they are about to carry out a bank robbery. Whilst the robbery is taking place they are attacked by “The Reavers”. A race of cannibalistic savages who fly through the universe raping and pillaging wherever they can. They still manage to escape with the loot and go to meet the people who gave them the job to hand it over. However, in the bar where they meet them, River sees something on the television which causes her to attack the bar patrons – displaying combat skills that the crew of the ship never knew she possessed. Realising that her actions will attract unwanted attention, they escape as quick as possible. However The Operative is on their tale.
At one point they go to hide with Shephard Derrial Book (Ron Glass) a former crew member who now runs a commune on a backwater planet. They also visit Inara (Morena Baccarin) who was co-erced by The Operative into setting a trap for them. They manage to escape and Inara joins them – but then they find out that The Operative has destroyed Book’s commune and murdered all his followers.

Our intrepid crew want to run, want to get away but realise they can’t. They must work out why it is that these people want River so bad – leading to an epic journey in which they not only find out River’s secrets, but the horrifying true story of who the Reavers are and how they came to be. Also, they need to expose to the rest of the universe the crimes against humanity that the Alliance have commited if they are ever to be free.

When this sci-fi thriller was released it sadly failed to ignite the box office. Which is a real shame. It was based on a TV show that not many had heard of, and had a cast of virtual unknowns. The marketing campaign also let it down. This shouldn’t really have been a problem as Whedon tried to make the movie in such a way that even non-fans of the show could appreciate. But it just failed to do so – and only just made back it’s rather conservative $40million budget.

It’s a real shame. The movie is action packed from start to finish. The plot has a pertinent message about the freedom of speech. The ensemble cast is spot on, with each character getting their moment to shine. The visual effects are a little rough around the edges, but still passable given the movie’s low budget. It’s often very funny – and even shocking in some parts.

Thankfully, it was a hit on DVD thanks to critical acclaim and good word of mouth. So hopefully one day we’ll have another adventure (or adventures) with these characters in some way shape or form.

This is such an under-rated movie, and if any of our readers have missed it, it’s fifth anniversary is a good enough reason to take a look at this minor classic.

If we can get the word out, if people start watching… who knows… maybe we’ll see Reynolds and co again sooner than we think. And with all this rubbish that passes for summer blockbusters out there these days – that’s really something to aim for.

So everyone out there watch Serenity and while you’re at it, get hold of the original Firefly series. You can’t stop the signal!

Comment on this article by clicking here