Serenity

#3 Serenity (2005)

Isn’t it about time that we get a follow-up to Serenity?

Made for around $39 million, the movie just about broke even at the worldwide box office, overcoming the fact that it was given only a partial release, and lackluster marketing. That’s impressive, when you consider that it was based off a canceled TV series (Firefly) that didn’t quite make the radar of mainstream America.

The cult following turned out, to see how this western-in-space could be expanded to the scale of a galactic showdown, and I can only imagine that a sequel would do even bigger business, while coming in at a lower budget. What distinguishes Serenity is its pop sensibilities, rejecting all that forced seriousness of the Star Wars prequels, as well as its focus on human relationships, which makes this more about characters than overt CGI. As the rebels smuggle their telepathic secret weapon with the Alliance hot on their tail, we come to care about this ragtag crew, fighting against the odds.

It’s the realism of the drama that ensures when the climactic interstellar showdown finally goes down, with spaceships all but flying on top of one another as they crowd the screen, the action has some serious emotional heft. Think of it as the opposite of all that boring, artificial action of Attack of the Clones. You saw that right? Then it’s time to check out Serenity.