Reever Madness

Serenity Spoilers throughout.

Don't read If you want to not be spoiled.

Basically the rag-tag oversexed pirate ship crew is led to a planet of extreme stoners by their psychic buffy pet. This planet, named after one of the Sex & The City gals, has become so stoned that 90% of them have died and the other 10% have an extreme case of the munchies.

Several key characters die. The best part of seeing the movie in the crowd I saw it with was the gasps of panic and shock when a particular fan favourite was run through like a used meal ticket. I liked the person who met their grisly end and hated to see them go to the Grimy Ship In The Sky but I had nowhere near the attachment to the character that some of the audience did. Joss Whedon sure cancelled their Christmas.

I have only seen one episode of the series, and was extremely underwhelmed. It seemed to have 15 minutes of story tightly packed into an hour. The rest of the time was spent in coy and flirtatious banter, which gets old when you're 35, married and read a lot of Jane Austen.

Whedon's storytelling is vastly improved by having a more limited canvas for his work. Without the endless hours to fill with his trademark sass, he gets right to the point and tells an engaging story. The movie is excellent, the pacing is excellent and the witty banter adds spice but doesn't overpower the dish. I was not a fan of the series and saw the film for free. Yet I would pay to see it again--it's that good.