Firefly

Serenity

Certificate: 15

Released: 27th Feb

Price: £19.99

Discs: One

Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, resurrects his short-lived sci-fi television series Firefly as this stand-alone feature film, set in a dark, foreboding 26th century.

Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) ekes out a meagre living carrying out transport-for-hire aboard his ship Serenity. Rejecting the rule of order established by the all-powerful Universal Alliance, Mal survives in the outlands by bending the law, and occasionally smashing it to smithereens.

He is aided and abetted by a loyal crew: feisty and opinionated second-in-command Zoe (Torres), her pilot husband Wash (Tudyk), muscle-bound brute Jayne (Baldwin) and spunky mechanic Kaylee (Staite).

When Reynolds takes on two new passengers - a young doctor (Maher) and his telepathic sister River (Glau) - he suddenly finds himself caught between the Universal Alliance and cannibalistic savages known as the Reavers.

Serenity is a slickly written and entertaining romp that bears all of the hallmarks of an old-fashioned Star Trek episode (albeit with more snappy dialogue). The plot is simplistic, hung on a series of energetic set pieces, which are let down by a lack of imagination and crude computer generated special effects.

In the quieter moments, writer-director Whedon shines, seamlessly moving from a joke about the Rime Of The Ancient Mariner to Kaylee’s saucy one-liner about her lack of bedroom action (’It’s been more than a year since I had anything ’twixt my nethers that didn’t run on batteries!’)

Characterisation is scant to say the least, relying on an appreciation of the television series to fully understand the relationships between crew members.

However, even newcomers to the Firefly universe will find something to keep them engaged for the two hours.

Film:

Director commentary, Joss Whedon introduction, deleted and extended scenes with director commentary, out-takes, ’Future History - The Story Of Earth That Was’ featurette, ’What’s In A Firefly’ featurette, ’Relighting The Firefly’ featurette, ’A Filmmakers Journey’ featurette.