MOVIE: Serenity

Serenity was distinctly average, although slightly better than simply putting TV on Film. Personally I'm so over the 'little girl who beats everyone up' - it's just so stupid. Hence I stopped watching Buffy to watch Angel in the hope of a darker and more violent premise. And then I gave up on the shallow, ditzy charachters altogether and haven't since returned to the 'monster' soap.

Without having watched the series, it appears the script, while decent, failed to utilise the several charachters with any meaning. The 'little girl who beats everyone up', despite adorning all the posters and trailers, is a minor charachter with half a page of dialogue and 2 lame action scenes. Also her googly blackened eyes are wierd.

The other charachters have just as little to do, the pilot and his co-captain wife are symbiotic in the sense that neither stands out {SPOILER} till one dies {end spoiler} and share half a page of dialogue between them. The doctor has no decent lines, the mechanic has 1 punch line, and the tough guy Jane at least shows a bit of attitude with his portrayal. Also the pilot is by far the blandest charachter of any movie or show I have seen in recent years {SPOILER} honestly, you know your charachter sucks when the most entertaining thing he does is die {end spoiler}.

That leaves the only charachters remaining, the Captain and the Badguy, and thankfully their performances are above par for the course (a very high par - that means crap for non-golfers). A good idea for a movie, with a potentially emotional revelation for the charachters' quest - but not enough is done to generate sympathy with the charachters and an understanding of their universe. Compared to being better than Star Wars (the new ones) but I don't agree with that. At least those films had charachters with a modicum of depth.

The whole 'Space Cowboy' theme was interesting for a while, but then the displaced dialogue began to annoy. Space ship action is cool when it happens, but it happens too infrequently. I would have liked to learn more about the Reavers, an especially disappointing absence given their importance to the story.

Side note: The dude who plays Mr. Universe, and also the guy who is the numbers dude in the TV show Num3rs is the Shakespeare geek in 10 Things I Hate About You