So I went to the screening of Serenity last night. I went in as I like to say...cold, meaning that I really don't know much about Firefly, the TV show that it is based on. I have seen the trailer for it and have seen short bits and pieces of the show, but not enough to know any of the characters or the story. So this is a review from a non fan. so on to the review( there are spoilers).
It starts with a dream, and having not seen the show, I imagine it is to bring you up to what is going on, it's a very clever way of doing so. The dream is one River is having during an experiment they are preforming on her. Her brother breaks her out of the 'lab' and they escape, It is not clear how long ago this happened but they end up on Captain Malcolm's ship Serenity. The escape is being watched on tape by an assassin who is after River. Serenity is a beat up ship that Malcolm and his crew use to do jobs (steal?) for other people. River turns out to be a weapon that the alliance created(?) and now wants back, hence the assassin they send after her. While the characters were (to me at least) unknown, they were fleshed out over the course of the movie, I liked that you learned about them by what they said and did, the director didn't give you all the information, you had to glean it from them. I found that I knew them by the end of the movie and wanted to know more. BIG SPOILER - I think it took some balls to kill off some characters that (I was told after the movie) were main characters on the show. their deaths were felt and that says a lot. the way they got through the alliance ships was, while obvious, also clever. Seeing the alliance ships surrounding the planet then being surprised by what finds when he gets there was a weak point, he should have expected that. The laughs, while few, were good as was the action, River kicks some ass. Haven was not explained as to why it was a haven, that was a weak point, maybe if you watch the show you might know, but it should have at least briefly been explained who these people were. Overall, I thought the movie was smart and fun, and while this was not a movie I had planned to see, I now want to see it again, I would now also like to see the series and may even buy the DVD of the series. All in all, I think it was a smart marketing move on thier part to give bloggers a screening. I'm not sure how true fans of the show will like it, but from what I heard at the screening they were happy.
The final verdict is 4 out of 5 stars.