I saw Serenity this past weekend. I enjoyed it.

Joss Whedon kept the characters from Firefly and continued to develop them, using the movie medium to give some more depth than they got from TV.

The story picks up from the show and continues the Alliance’s pursuit of River. I don’t think you need to have seen the show to become engaged with the movie. The TV show provides back story on the characters but the movie defines the characters within its own view. It is hard for me to say, since I did see the entire series, that if someone walked in without Firefly, that they would appreciate the movie, but I think they would.

The movie quickly establishes the overall conflict between the Tams and the Alliance, and even provides the reason that the Alliance fears River Tam. Within Serenity, the crew continues to deal with a ship that is continually breaking down and with the tensions of living with a group of people they might not otherwise want to live with.

Especially when the goals of some are the pursuit of individual wealth and glory and for others is the pursuit of individual liberty over the commune of the Alliance with its select few who desire mastery and control over the human race. It is this pursuit of the mastery and control that leads to the main crisis of the movie and its tactically satisfying conclusion.

There is no strategically satisfying conclusion that can be reached, a la “throw the ring into Mount Doom”, in a two hour movie. And maybe there never will be. The suppression of one’s humanity in support of an ideal society goes back throughout human history. I doubt it will change much in the future. And there will always be people to take advantage of that blind faith for their own ends.

Whedon blends comedic elements so easily throughout the script. Even in the middle of a tense scene, a spot of homor highlights the moment and heightens the tension. People act as people throughout the script. Even stereotypes and exemplars of virtue have dings around the edges to make them more real.

I will give this an 9 out of 10 and expect to get the DVD when it becomes available.