Serenity

 Review

Common Sense Media says

A bit clunky, but entertaining sci-fi.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that the movie includes some rambunctious action, drawn from both Western and science-fiction conventions. They fight with their fists, guns, and other implements; they also engage in chase scenes on speedy hovering vehicles. Space battles -- between space ships -- result in some raucous explosion and shoot-out scenes. Some aggressive, martial-artsy fighting. Characters drink and smoke in a bar. One couple kisses and looks to be headed to off-screen sex; one character has designed a robot to service him (the implication is that she's a sexual companion). A woman crewmember sees her husband killed, suddenly and brutally.

  • The Alliance representatives use violent means to get their way; the Reavers are ferocious killers who eat human flesh.
  • Action violence, including explosions, shoot-outs, chases, and sylized, wireworky and time-zappy martial arts.
  • Some sexual references; some women wear midriff- and cleave-baring outfits.

What's the story?

500 years from now, humans are colonizing space, terraforming planets in far-flung solar systems, jumpstarting civilizations in their own image, and wreaking havoc based on assumed values and prerogatives. Two sides have formed amid the expansion, the mighty Universal Alliance and the scrappy independents. The Alliance is not only interested in colonizing worlds, but also minds and bodies. A prominent experiment along these lines is River (Summer Glau), an extra-sensitive telepath, brainwashed in Alliance classrooms as a child, then electro-refitted in an Alliance lab until her brain essentially blew out. She wears gauzy goth dresses and teeters between anxious passivity and deadly accuracy, able to climb walls, cling to ceilings, break bones when "weaponized." Her brother Simon (Sean Maher) rescues her from the lab, and they take refuge on the Serenity, a ship captained Mal (Nathan Fillion). His crew -- tough guy Jayne (Adam Baldwin), warrior Zoe (Gina Torres), her partner and ship's pilot Wash (Alan Tudyk), and mechanic Kaylee (Jewel Staite) -- worry that they are carrying these risky (paying) passengers, as the Alliance is sure to track them down.


Is it any good?

 

SERENITY makes the future quite like the present. That's not a bad thing. Though occasionally clunky in structure and execution (some images reportedly culled from unused footage from Joss Whedon's TV series Firefly, from which the storyline and characters are drawn), the movie is entertaining and the dialogue often witty.

Styled like cowboys, Mal's team resists the Alliance for all the right reasons. If the brutal, brave, confused adolescent is a favorite trope for Whedon and his fans, the tormented but also irredeemably fated River is also here a sign of resistance to conventional thinking. River's telepathy -- which makes her (seem) crazy and grants her way too much information pertaining to everyone around her -- is related thematically to the film's most idealistic notion, that media exposure -- via a character with access to all angles of dissemination, Mr. Universe (David Kurmholtz) -- might save the 'verse.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the various loyalties revealed in various pairings and groups of characters: brother and sister, romantic couples, devotion to causes and communities as ideals. How does River's wrestling with her training and instinct as a "weapon" serve as counterpoint for the Operator, who sees himself as a "monster" but also believes in his mission to commit murder and mayhem, as a means to eventual peace?


This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
Adult
April 9, 2008
 

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Excellent Story from TV series everything answered
The whole family went! Children from 13, 16 & 20, plus Mom & Dad. Great entertainment for this age group. Sexual sitations are vague. Violence is the primary concern involving social behaviors, drug modifications, eventually leading to cannibalism.

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Great for Firefly fans!
Hubby and I were really looking forward to this movie and we weren't disappointed. Our kids are too young to watch (11 and under,) but good action and good moral point to the story-that everyone needs to believe in something. A few unexpected story surprises but a great movie.

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Teen, 17 years old
November 28, 2009
 
great movie for 13+
AMAZING!!! KAYLEE IS AWESOME!!! the Reavers are kinda creepy, but otherwise the movie is awesome. the space theme is cool, the effects are good, and the characters and plot rock. Firefly fans, Kaylee and Simon finnaly get together!!! GREAT MOVIE!!!

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Teen, 18 years old
April 9, 2008
 

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Adult
April 9, 2008
 
Laughable
Kind of cheesy and confusing. Not particularly enjoyable.

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This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
Studio:Universal Pictures
Director:Joss Whedon
Cast:Alan Tudyk, Nathan Fillion, Summer Glau
Genre:Action/Adventure
Run time:119 minutes
Theatrical release date:September 30, 2005
DVD release date:December 20, 2005
MPAA rating:PG-13
MPAA explanation:sequences of intense violence and action, and some sexual references

This review was written by Cynthia Fuchs
 

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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