It was 9pm and I thought I would watch Serenity prior to winking out for the night. Having poured myself a very tall drink I was somewhat disappointed to find that this movie was fairly mediocre. I was faced with a quandary; quaff the beverage, bin the flick and go to bed or keep on sipping and tough it out. Realising that I can't really comment without seeing it through and that downing a large martini of those proportions in one hit isn't really on, I chose the latter.
This movie actually wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't such a tired formula. I won't give the plot away but then it's so predictable I don't really need to...just consider the ingredients; a rag-tag band of "outlaw" stereotypes led by the "lovable rogue" captain, a ruthless and relentless establishment "bad guy" in pursuit and a mysterious girl with an innocent and eccentric facade that belies "hidden powers" within. The plot and character combination would make it a challenge for any actor to perform well, so it will come as no surprise that the acting was fairly stolid...not helped by what appeared to be attempts to inject some humour with a little hamming it up that, sadly, failed to hit the mark. Reasonable but antiseptically artificial special effects rounded off an overall bland movie experience.
Update: the film improves with a second viewing and, on giving it another go, I found it easier to look beyond the deficiencies and enjoyed it more.
This movie actually wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't such a tired formula. I won't give the plot away but then it's so predictable I don't really need to...just consider the ingredients; a rag-tag band of "outlaw" stereotypes led by the "lovable rogue" captain, a ruthless and relentless establishment "bad guy" in pursuit and a mysterious girl with an innocent and eccentric facade that belies "hidden powers" within. The plot and character combination would make it a challenge for any actor to perform well, so it will come as no surprise that the acting was fairly stolid...not helped by what appeared to be attempts to inject some humour with a little hamming it up that, sadly, failed to hit the mark. Reasonable but antiseptically artificial special effects rounded off an overall bland movie experience.
Update: the film improves with a second viewing and, on giving it another go, I found it easier to look beyond the deficiencies and enjoyed it more.