Serenity
Universal Pictures | Release Date: September 30, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChroniclePeter 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 OregonianShawn Levy
If you think the "Star Wars" prequels are a disease, then Serenity is the cure. Read full review
90
Film ThreatGreg 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
90
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Serenity is a trim little picture of epic proportions. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneRobert 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 ObserverLawrence 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. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Serenity is still taut, immersive, and alternately hilarious and heartbreaking, a well-balanced blend of whooping Wild West action and space opera. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverRobert 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
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
A highly entertaining piece of genre-blending fun. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson 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. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)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. Read full review
80
EmpireOlly 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. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley 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. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyScott 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-TimesRoger 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
Miami HeraldConnie 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. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven 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
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean 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. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland 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. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Serenity may be short on exposition, but it's smart and fun. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth 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. Read full review
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. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A fast-paced, engaging science fiction adventure tale. Read full review
75
PremiereRyan 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. Read full review
70
VarietyDerek 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 VoiceMatt 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 TimesManohla Dargis
Scene for scene, Serenity is more engaging and certainly better written and acted than any of Mr. Lucas's recent screen entertainments. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri 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. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea 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. Read full review
70
SlateDavid Edelstein
I mean Serenity no disrespect when I say it's enjoyably junky. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley 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
L.A. WeeklyPaul 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
50
USA TodayClaudia 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. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle 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
More From This Movie

74 Critic Reviews

8.3 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 86 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
2 84 Are You There God? It's Me,...
3 78 John Wick: Chapter 4
4 75 Polite Society
5 73 Air
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL