Serenity (2005)

Follow-up film to the cult sci-fi TV series Firefly, which aired only 11 episodes (14 were made in all) and ended in 2002. A fan favorite, but only among a select few, it took place 500 years in the future, when mankind has expanded throughout the galaxy, but resembled a western in outer space. There had been a great war, which was won by The Alliance, which rules in a despotic fashion. The title of the film refers to the name of the spaceship commanded by Mal (Nathan Fillion), a former soldier on the losing side. He has a small crew. As in the series, much of the plot involves the mysterious River (Summer Glau), rescued from the clutches of the Alliance by her brother. The Alliance, represented by a ruthless agent (Chiwetel Ejiofor), is after her - she has been developed as a perfect assassin - and Mal's friends fall by the wayside in this conflict.
This film follow-up obviously had a larger budget ($40 mil) than the TV series so there are big scenes in outer space, at times involving numerous ships. We also find out the origin of The Reavers, a barbaric band of marauders & cannibals who live to kill; apparently, they were an artificial creation - a bad drug - not a bunch of killers who just went crazy for their own strange reasons. This information turns out to be key in delivering a blow against the Alliance. The story goes against the grain by not having the usual violent death of the main villain, but it's unsatisfying and doesn't ring true. The combo of wry humor and sobering deaths doesn't meld well, and things are wrapped up too neatly while still leaving it open ended - though there were no sequels due to the disappointing box office. I always found the female characters in this interesting, especially the knockout played by Morena Baccarin, but the males are a bore, though Adam Baldwin is amusing as an extra-tough guy. The film is better paced than the TV series, but not by much.  BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10