I have concerned myself quite a bit over the past few days with box office numbers and ticket sales (as have a lot of people I know), as I want there to be sequels made to this fantastic movie. This is my LiveJournal, and as such posting what is on my mind seems perfectly reasonable to me. Also, it seems obvious that I would not be hoping for there to be sequels made if I did not really love this movie. That aside, however, extolling the virtues of the Big Damn Movie is certainly also a good thing. In fact, I'm fairly sure I've extolled its virtues in my LiveJournal before, though I certainly haven't gone into any specifics, and won't now.
Serenity is a beautiful, exciting, poignant, exhultant, heart-rending, joyful, hillarious, fantastic, incredible emotional roller-coaster ride which benefits greatly from repeat viewings. Each time you see it, you will catch new things, hear/see new nuances. The acting is profoundly wonderful. The cast was BORN to play their characters. The story is never dull, always true to itself, complex yet understandable. The cinematography and the visual and sound effects are wonderful. The soundtrack is excellent. The dialogue is pure Whedon goodness. It is true to Firefly. It is completely accessible to people who never saw the show without being full of overt exposition. It is truly a work of genius. It was made on a comparative shoestring budget (compared to other big sci-fi movies), and yet it comes out looking better than all the others. It has incredible effects, and yet it is not about effects. It is about people. Real, believable people. While the scene is removed from the current day, the characters and the experiences they have are very real, and as is usual for Joss, cliches are thrown out the airlock.
The last part of the movie isn't always appreciated/enjoyed on the first viewing, especially by Firefly fans (I did not fully appreciate it myself on the first viewing; I was unsure that I liked it), but after coming to terms with it, a second viewing of the movie really lets you appreciate it that much more.
Almost everybody loves this movie. Firefly fans and people who've never seen an episode alike. I had concerns that it would appeal less to non-fans, but those fears have been allayed, having seen and heard so many extremely positive responses to the movie from non-fans ... and thus word of mouth and getting as many people out to see it as possible is the thing I'm concerning myself with.