The TV series will always have a place in my 17-year-old heart, but my 25-year-old mind has trouble getting over how godawfully formulaic it got. That's where the Firefly comparison really breaks down (or had better, because if it turns out to be prophetic, I don't want another series).

IMDB liked it enough to cull from the positives:

In her review, Manohla Dargis in the New York Times compares Joss Whedon's Serenity with George Lucas's Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith. Serenity comes out ahead. "Scene for scene," she writes, "Serenity is more engaging and certainly better written and acted than any of Mr. Lucas's recent screen entertainments. Mr. Whedon isn't aiming to conquer the pop-culture universe with a branded mythology; he just wants us to hitch a ride to a galaxy far, far away and have a good time." Jan Stuart in Newsday makes a similar comparison, remarking: "George Lucas could learn a thing or two from Whedon. Serenity flies with sass and spirit, qualities that have been in palpably short supply in that Star Wars series since, well, Star Wars." Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times also indicates that he had a good time watching the movie, writing: "Serenity is made of dubious but energetic special effects, breathless velocity, much imagination, some sly verbal wit and a little political satire." Elizabeth Weitzman in the New York Daily News notes that the movie appears to exist as a the final episode of Whedon's canceled Firefly TV series and because the show's fans "made the Firefly DVD set an unexpected best seller." She adds: "Whedon's sci-fi fantasies smartly parallel the serious issues we're grappling with here on Earth, while his protagonists remain mordantly funny in the face of utter disaster. Like Star Trek before it, the outer-space setting is perfectly suited to a big budget" movie.

I was into the series more for the characters than the storylines. I liked MacLeod and Dawson, and I loved Amanda and Methos. (And was filled with rage at what they did with Amanda in that crap spin-off The Raven and still don't understand why they didn't do the Methos Chronicles or even an anthology series instead.)

Consider the alternative - it was either Amanda or the chick played by Scoggins. No men considered.

I didn't even like Amanda on the main show. I just watched for the beefcake.

I know we'er all black font all the time now, but still just to be kind to those who won't be seeing it until later today or whatever.....

This movie easily had the HSest HSQ I think I've ever seen.

I was struck hard, but I'd just used up all my energy freaking out at the battering Serenity was taking. I was all "You can't do that! You can't hurt the ship!"

Yeah.

Hmmph.

That whole sequence, I was just covering my mouth with my hands and quietly whimpering.

Sadly, the non-fans going in aren't going to feel the hurt about the ship the way the fans do. I think newcomers are going to find that whole sequence of events thrilling, while the fans (though I'm mostly speaking for myself here) are going to feel like they've been punched in the gut repeatedly. That's not to say the occaisional gut punch isn't allowed, but by the end I was metaphorically (white font for squicky imagery) puking blood. It was just too much and I couldn't process it on an emotional level anymore.

Second viewing went over much better, though it still hurt.

This movie easily had the HSest HSQ I think I've ever seen.

Really? More than Fight Club? Or I See Dead People? Or the Crying Game?

Okay, those all rely on twists, and this didn't, but still.

Killing Wash (there, I said it) snapped things into perspective. I felt quite (well, even more) silly about worrying about the ship (and Kaylee's reaction) when presented with death and the potential of Zoe's reaction. So I'd thought it had been a gut punch, but I realised it'd been just a love tap, and wouldn't even leave a bruise.

However, the cheer I felt when the doors opened to reveal River untouched in the room full of Reaver corpses was directly proportional to the loss that had gone before.

And that I appreciated. I just had to remind myself to remember that scene as well as the sad ones.