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Sunday, 1:46 pm in Movies & TV

So with all that in its favor, what exactly is the problem with Serenity? Simply put, it’s never more than disposable: a modestly entertaining late-September release of the sort that comes and goes like autumn leaves. And yet everything about it, from the concept to the development to the sights onscreen, suggests that it wants to be so much more. The characters’ iconoclasm is lionized, yet never feels as subversive as Whedon would like us to think; at the end of the day, they still fit into all too traditional good-guy roles. Their speech, too, deviates into heavy (and rather derisive) philosophizing, while laced with a lexicon that clearly aches for pop-culture repeatability. The jokes are smart, but far too aware of their intelligence – like a witty dinner guest who talks only about himself. And despite its claims to originality, there’s a whole lot about it that we’ve seen in a whole lot of other films. The flaws settle beneath the surface of Serenity like sand in the turtle’s shell: itching and scratching and detracting from the better elements on display. Like Titanic and Blair Witch, it boasts some impressive assets, but lowered expectations will produce a much more satisfying experience than the assumption that this space oater is the heir apparent to George Lucas. It’s frustrating: Serenity could have been a fun little flick… if only its creator (and his fans) were comfortable with that status.

Quoted From: http://www.flipsidemovies.com/serenity.html

Though it’s well written, its flat camerawork, lack of star appeal or appealing characters, perfunctory storytelling and trite dialogue that is funny without trying to be funny, the film, too often, stagnates in space.
It’s a cult-film venture, with its own built-in geek fan base, and with slim possibilities of reaching a wider mainstream audience. After all, the public rejected it when they could have seen it for free.

Quoted From: http://www.sover.net/~ozus/serenity.htm

“We’ll get through this,” Simon (Sean Maher) says to his sister, a psychic named River (Summer Glau). As River answered Simon, I felt like she was speaking directly to me when she said, “It’s going to get much, much worse,” which the movie certainly did.

With virtually no character development and a serious emphasis on plot, Serenity is fast-paced and action-packed - but the bottom line is that it’s just not terribly interesting, particularly for viewers who have absolutely nothing invested in these characters. […] As a result, for somebody who’s never seen the show, most of these figures come off as flat and overly sarcastic (in terms of the latter, that’s just about the only defining character trait for a good portion of Serenity’s crew).

Quoted From: http://www.reelfilm.com/serenity.htm

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