Wow. And not all in a good way, either. But Wow.

I can see why this movie didn’t necessarily break records at the box office, but I salute Joss Whedon and his team for creating the ultimate series finale.

There are some series (say, Babylon Five) where they just happily take major characters they’ve spent one (or more!) seasons building up, and just friggin’ KILL THEM OFF! It was great in that series, because suddenly, people in peril were really in peril, and you couldn’t tell the Red Shirts from the Main Cast. But Firefly (the series) wasn’t like that. As great as the series was — and I truly loved and enjoyed each of the fourteen episodes — you still knew that at the end of the day Shepherd Book would preach slightly cryptic sermons, Wash would fly home, and the tension between Inara and Mal would continue unabated and unresolved.

The movie tossed all that out of the window. Once they did, you got a sense that anyone could die (well, except for Jane, who you just knew would come through it alive). But you also finally got to wrap up the unresolved story lines from the series. As sad as I am that they killed some of the major characters, I still say that they did this up in fine fashion.

Would I recommend this movie to someone who had NOT seen the series? Probably not. Although they did a decent job creating something that stands alone in terms of the mythology, the characters really weren’t all that engrossing unless you already had fallen for them in the series, and knew some of their subtleties. I was also a little put off that they extra-crustified Mal, but it’s a minor quibble.

Overall, loved the movie, and it was like a huge, extra-super-sized episode from the series, and made for something that was, ultimately, satisfying as a worthy series finale.

..Chris..

..Chris..