Serenity is undoubtedly a movie for the fans. After Firefly's abrupt end, the absence of any kind of denouement left a gaping hole in the fabric of this fictional universe, and left the fans howling for more. This movie does fill that hole somewhat, but not completely. Answers to nagging questions still linger… Who were the mysterious blue-gloved men? Do Captain Reynolds and Inara ever get together? Who was the Shepherd really? There were some tantalizing hints dropped, but nothing concrete. Instead we get an eloquent assassin who spouts off pseudo-moralistic soliloquies in between giving the Captain a good ass-whooping – a nod to the memorable character in the final TV episode no doubt. 

The door is certainly still wide open for a continuation of the series, albeit minus a few characters who met their unfortunate end. However, what we do get is a full exploration of the River story – and man, does she kick serious butt. The origin story of the Reavers was also quite chilling and gave the movie a good narrative kick.  

In fact, the movie does stand quite well on its own and has a lot of heart and soul – perhaps more so than what George Lucas came up with when he cobbled the Phantom Menace together with an annoying floppy-eared Jamaican alien and a wooden kid.

4/5 stars