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Serenity
Universal Pictures

Serenity reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 74 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.2 out of 10
based on 34 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 397 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, and some sexual references

Starring Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, and Summer Glau

This story of a small band of galactic outcasts 500 years in the future centers around Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran (on the losing side) of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. (Universal)


GENRE(S): Action  |  Adventure  |  Drama  |  Sci-fi  
WRITTEN BY: Joss Whedon  
DIRECTED BY: Joss Whedon  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: December 20, 2005 
Video: December 20, 2005 
Theatrical: September 30, 2005 
RUNNING TIME: 119 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
As challenging as it must have been to pilot Joss Whedon's space opera from the TV junk pile to the big screen, the finished product is a triumph.
Read Full Review
91
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
If you think the "Star Wars" prequels are a disease, then Serenity is the cure.
Read Full Review
90
Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Serenity is a trim little picture of epic proportions.
Read Full Review
90
Film Threat Greg Bellavia
This is a film that exists because of fans, was written for the fans and yet can be enjoyed by just about anyone willing to have a good time.
Read Full Review
88
Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
A brash, funny, action-packed bit of sci-fi ecstasy--and a giant raspberry to the execs who let "Firefly" fall out of the sky.
Read Full Review
88
Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Whedon wants to make a Serenity trilogy, and I suspect the actors will grow on me if he does. In this case, familiarity would breed not contempt but comfort.
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80
Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky
It's but a witty, engaging hodgepodge of archetypes and clichés; it retreads not only the TV show's story lines, but also those of every "Star Trek" and "Gunsmoke" episode. It needed the room of a big screen just to fit all of its influences into a single place.
Read Full Review
80
The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson
Serenity is still taut, immersive, and alternately hilarious and heartbreaking, a well-balanced blend of whooping Wild West action and space opera.
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80
New York Magazine Ken Tucker
A sci-fi saga that manages to be at once stirring and screwball, gut-busting and gut-wrenching, and more fun than you had at any bigger-budget movie this past summer.
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80
Empire Olly Richards
If you're a novice, this is a plucky introduction to Whedon's world and the most fun sci-fi of the year. If you're a devotee, this is the magnificent return you've been praying for.
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80
Washington Post Desson Thomson
No matter what's coming their way, post-apocalyptic doom or gloom, this James Gang of the galaxy is just plain fun to watch.
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80
Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
A highly entertaining piece of genre-blending fun.
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78
Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
Serenity evinces the kind of swashbuckling bonhomie that made so many of us fall in love with the original "Star Wars" films, a love that was mightily tested by George Lucas' humorless prequels.
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75
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
It features truly monstrous bogeymen in the Reavers, cannibalistic renegades who, legend has it, went to the edge of the universe and were driven mad by the abyss.
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75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The film's strength is compelling character relationships and Whedon's trademark dialogue, a smarter version of the cliched action-movie barrage of wisecrack under fire, only better executed, laden in personality, and enriched with evocative western colloquialisms of a frontier culture.
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75
Miami Herald Connie Ogle
Serenity shows what might have happened if Han Solo had been the focus of the original "Star Wars" instead of whiny Jedi wannabe Luke Skywalker.
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75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Although Mal is ostensibly the movie's hero, and River its heroine, Whedon does a good job of giving all onboard their own story arc, their tragedies and triumphs. The cast, to a man (and woman), is solid, although it's the ballet-trained Glau, who gets to mope in high angst and go Zhang Ziyi-crazy in a couple of martial-arts scenes, who steals the show.
Read Full Review
75
Entertainment Weekly Scott Brown
Jaw set but never stiff, he (Fillion) gets both the Whedon wit and the Whedon grandiloquence between cheek and gum, and gives the whole enterprise the heft of a real saga.
Read Full Review
75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Serenity is made of dubious but energetic special effects, breathless velocity, much imagination, some sly verbal wit and a little political satire.
Read Full Review
75
Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Serenity may be short on exposition, but it's smart and fun.
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75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
After witnessing the wearying parliamentary debates among good and bad senators in recent Star Wars episodes, it's a pleasure to watch a sci-fi movie where more than just the spaceships move quickly.
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75
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
While it's a geek's paradise from scene one, newcomers are likely to feel left out until they get their bearings. Fortunately, Whedon's characteristic humanity, coupled with the slyest sense of humor in Hollywood, greatly eases the transition.
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75
Premiere Ryan Devlin
Serenity may not be the next "Star Wars," but it's the best we've seen since the original trilogy, and if Wheedon is planning Serenity trilogy (the door is left open), it would certainly be welcome.
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75
ReelViews James Berardinelli
A fast-paced, engaging science fiction adventure tale.
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70
Slate David Edelstein
I mean Serenity no disrespect when I say it's enjoyably junky.
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70
Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Chiwetel Ejiofor (Dirty Pretty Things) is the sinister operative dispatched to retrieve the ship's psychic passenger, who as played by Summer Glau kickboxes better than Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi combined.
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70
Variety Derek Elley
What makes Serenity refreshing is its avoidance of CGI, which gives the pic a much more human dimension; the evident chemistry between the cast; and a humor that doesn't rely simply on flip one-liners.
Read Full Review
70
Village Voice Matt Singer
Though richly allegorical, Serenity also works as a rousing and unabashedly manipulative adventure that never takes itself too seriously.
Read Full Review
70
The New York Times Manohla Dargis
Scene for scene, Serenity is more engaging and certainly better written and acted than any of Mr. Lucas's recent screen entertainments.
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70
The Hollywood Reporter Sheri Linden
An appealingly low-rent, if not earth-shattering, 26th century "Star Wars" with faint glimmers of "Blade Runner," "Buckaroo Banzai" and "The Manchurian Candidate" for good measure.
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63
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
For folks like me, who missed "Firefly," the short-lived TV show on which the movie's based, watching Serenity is like showing up for a big lecture course at the end of the semester. And yet, after an hour of intense disorientation, the movie's arch sarcasm becomes oddly entertaining.
Read Full Review
50
New York Post Kyle Smith
If you can't be original, why not borrow from something no one has seen, like Ben Affleck's last five movies?
Read Full Review
50
USA Today Claudia Puig
The dialogue, delivered mostly in Southern accents, is intended to be funny and fresh, but much of this Western-influenced sci-fi adventure story feels reheated.
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50
LA Weekly Paul Malcolm
It's the zippy chatter among the Serenity's wised-up space pirates that gives the film most of its punch, but with only serviceable action sequences and largely cookie-cutter effects, you can still sense the void just outside.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 397 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

M D. gave it a10:
One of my favorite movies of all time. Not only does it include a political theme, it has action and romance (but not ooey-gooey sappy romance, just plain fun romance) and comedy. It does have a lot of violence, so if that isn't your thing you probably won't like it much. Regardless, I'd also recommend the Firefly tv series. It has all the action, romance, comedy, and political statements, but often without quite as much violence.

sam m. gave it a10:
well filmed, great script, and some classy one liners. this sci-fi brings a fresh face to a usually recent boring genre.

D X gave it a9:
FIREFLY/Serenity is one of the greatest Sci-Fi shows of our time. Fox really dropped the ball when they aired the episodes at random show times and then canceled the show prematurely.

Karen H. gave it a10:
Perfect characterizations and a thought-provoking story, full of humour, intelligence and great special effects and music. The acting and character interplay and attention to detail added dimension to the space story. Not a fairy-tale story, but a realistic mythos and universe.

Andrea gave it a10:
Long live Joss. How can someone not love this movie with the hysterical dialouge and suprise losses. It really helps to watch firefly first though, but not necessary to enjoy the film.

George M. gave it a10:
It makes you wonder why Star Wars gets so much attention even today, when there are absolutely amazing space-set sci-fi films such as this one around. Then again, Serenity truly is on a plateau of quality all its own. Sensational film.

Mike B gave it a9:
Rent, buy or somehow watch the only season of the TV series, Firefly. After you're done with that, watch Serenity. If you still don't immensely enjoy it (and the TV series) then maybe you should stick to traditional sci-fi with loads of wrinkle headed aliens and gratuitous special effects.

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