He robbed from the rich
And he gave to the poor
Stood up to the man
And he gave him what for
Our love for him now
Ain’t hard to explain
The Hero of Canton
The man they call Jayne…

The crowd in the capacity filled movie theater burst into the song from the Firefly episode Jaynestown, knowing that they were just a few short moments away from watching a special advance screening of the movie Serenity, based on the short-lived Fox television show Firefly.

Let me take you back to when I found Serenity. This past Christmas I received the Firefly DVD box set as a gift. I knew of the show, but had never watched an episode. I had never even had much of a desire to watch the show. Even though soem good friends of mine were huge fans, I dismissed it as their devout fanaticism to Joss Whedon. These friends are huge fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and in all honesty, I never really cared for those shows.

Nevertheless, having received the entire one season run of shows on DVD as a gift, I felt compelled to watch… and watch… and watch. I made it through all 4 DVDs in a span of two days. It was like nothing I had seen on television before. The show had a balanced mix of drama, action, and story that seemed perfect. The characters were all instantly interesting and the world (or should I say ‘Verse) Whedon created was rich and colorful. I was hooked, fairly quickly.

Unfortunately, after finishing the DVDs, I wanted more. But, the show had long been cancelled. It didn’t seem quite fair. That is, until I found out that a motion picture was being made. And that brings us to last night’s advance screening of the movie Serenity, which is scheduled for release in September.

Just prior to the movie beginning and after being warned by a man working security for Universal that night-vision devices would be used during the movie to locate anyone trying to bootleg (which spawned a little debate about implied consent between Dave and Jay), the audience in the theater was surprised to see none other than Morena Baccarin (Inara Serra) and Sean Maher (Dr. Simon Tam) enter the theater. They didn’t say much, but seemed eager to watch the movie with us as they had yet to see it themselves.

Now, don’t you fear, I will keep spoilers out of the rest of the article. I don’t feel there is a need to talk about specific plot points in the movie. I just want to share my impression of the movie. Unfortunately, I find it difficult to examine it from the point-of-view of someone who has never watched the television show. But, I will give it a shot.

The movie is action packed. This is sure to please the average moviegoer. Despite the fact that this was a very rough cut of the movie and will undergo some heavy editing before its release, I could already tell that the special effects would be top-notch. But, then again, this was true with the television show. Given the fact that they had a much larger budget and much more time, you can only imagine how much nicer the effects will be. The roughness of the effects was especially evident towards the end of the movie. But, I kind of enjoyed seeing that, as this was the first time I had the opportunity to watch a movie while it was still in the middle of the editing process.

The movie also had much that would please devoted fans of the television series. The characters remained unchanged, although the focus was certainly on River Tam and the mysteries surrounding why the Alliance was after her. Like a good boy, Joss Whedon answers all of those questions and provides a fun movie to watch. What Firefly fans might be disappointed in is the fact that the movie is so full of sci-fi action that it doesn’t quite have the same feel as the series had. And with the focus on River, many of the characters are forced to take a back seat. There is certain character development that can take place in a television series that can’t occur in a film, and that hold true for Serenity. Hopefully, the movie will encourage people who haven’t seen the series to pick up the DVDs. They certainly wouldn’t be disappointed.

Also, for those who are familiar with the Firefly series, there will be a few moments in the movie that will surprise them. Trust me. Bravo on that, Joss. Those were some really unexpected moments. Didn’t expect that one bit.

But, getting back to the movie as whole. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it alot. Would I have enjoyed it as much if I weren’t familiar with and a fan of the original series? I am not sure. I know that fans of science fiction and action movies will enjoy the action and effects of the movie. As I stated earlier, this movie is bursting at the seams with action and special effects. And that seems to be enough to please many people. And that is when they will get hooked. They will get enough of a taste of the Firefly world to whet their appetite.

So, be forewarned… It will leave you wanting more. But, unlike with movies like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, you don’t have to wait a full year (or sometimes more) to satisfy that craving. There are four DVDs worth of goodness just waiting for you.

Verdict: Theater Movie