I swallowed a bug.

Film Every now and then some film will jump up and smack me across the face so hard that I'll find it almost impossible to write a review. Joss Whedon's Serenity is one of these films. From beginning to end I sat agape, wondering when the next thrill, laugh, cry or scream would occur. And that's just from me. But really, in a summer of disappointment (well alright just Hitchhikers) it's amazing to find a good old fashioned adventure film, but in a break from the norm that's about something.

I'm a fan of Firefly the tv series for which this is the continuation or sequel, and the what's particularly gratifying is that the film actually deepens the viewers appreciation of those stories. In giving some backstory to bring the uninitiated up to speed, the film actually gives some of the geography and characterisation which has gone before. This is material which surely would have been eeked out in the drip drip of weekly television, but here it's a shot in the arm, and enough to tempt me to go and watch the series again, even though I only just finished the last run through.

Strikingly, the film is not riddled with kisses to the past. The theme song does not appear and neither do we get to hear about the hero of canton. Old jokes ("I'll be in my bunk!") are not rerun for comic effect or catchphrase value. Those moments have become iconic because there were so few episodes of the series to be poured over and to give them extra weight here would be wrong.

This is about re-affirming the values and ideas of the series. Even with all the action and ship chases, this has a very literate script. There are conversations about faith, spirituality, what it is to be human and those values we hold dear. But the mood of the series has largely been replicated, but the crew have moved on. In some cases this is presented subtly -- the odd use of a christian name instead of a title, or arguments in places were once there was detante. In some cases, status quos which had developed by the final episode have slipped backwards for the needs of the story, but this feels generally natural. Relationships and friendships ebb and flow.

There performances are uniformally excellent, much as they were before. Stars will be made here and that's as it should be. Luckily everyone has largely signed on for future films so even if Summer Glau goes off and becomes the new Jodie Foster, she'll be back for more. As you would expect with the format, some characters simply don't get as much to do here, but that should be redressed in future 'episodes'. Vitally, though, everyone gets a memorable moment, a chance to shine, isn't forgotten.

The look of the series has largely been carried over. It's largely lensed with handheld cameras, sometimes right in the faces of the actors. The atmospheric lighting continues as well, keyholes all over. I've heard much criticism that it looks to much like the programme, but frankly that's idiotic because the look of the show was cinematic to begin with; in fact some of the photography has become a cliche in the meantime, for example the documentary feel to the ships in flight. The innovations continue here though -- there is a space battle which is positively impressionistic.

I don't know how the film played with a non-fan audience. The auditorium I was in laughed all the way through at the jokes and I even heard gasps. There was a man sitting behind me in a beany hat wearing shades and he seemed to enjoy himself. But as a biased fan I'd say that I can't think of a reason that you shouldn't be there over the weekend. I mean what else could you be doing?