Your shadow weighs a ton.
I'm stealing this Serenity review that starsouls1013 found because I find it to be one of the better objective reviews I've seen so far. Someone who isn't raving about the movie but isn't being an immature jerk about it either.
Here's a link to the article, and yes, it contains spoilers.
First of all, I agree with her when she says that Firefly is the best series to ever be on television. I also agree that Serenity seemed to place more emphasis on sci-fi/futurism than the show did.
However, it's rather...silly to complain about this, if you're aware of all the facts. I'm sure that Joss had certain restrictions, handed down by the studio. And one of those restrictions was probably to make the movie as accessible and attention-grabbing as possible. More people are attracted to bright lights, high-speed chases, and impressive special effects. It's just how things are. The fact that the movie is in theatres now is a miracle, so to knock Serenity for being what it, honestly, had to be, is unfair.
That being said, I still saw and loved a lot of what this reviewer is saying was missing. Serenity was still a "bucket-of-bolts ship", as far as I'm concerned. When it was coming into atmosphere at the beginning of the movie, it very nearly fell out of the sky. When River locked off part of the ship, Mal had to use a ratchet, of all things to find in a futuristic space movie, to take off the vents. I understand what she's saying, but she just doesn't seem to be looking closely enough.
"It's difficult to fault a movie for having a cinematic feel, but when its source material took pride in making its computer-generated scenes look like hard-earned pan-'n-scan hand-held I-was-there-man! footage, something gets lost in the polish."
I do agree with this. The movie did seem to have tighter and more controlled directing than the series. But again, it was probably either this or no movie at all. I'd much rather have the former. And honestly, Serenity was such a visual feast, full of gorgeous lighting and interesting camera angles, that I'm perfectly happy with the final product. Yes, it's more cinematic, but that didn't dampen the effect for me at all.
The point the reviewer made on Reavers is very close to how I felt before I saw the movie. I was extremely worried that, once I saw the Reavers, I would lose a lot of my fear. This quote, however, isn't exactly how I would put it. "Joss does not understand that what you don't see is always, always a thousand times scarier than what you do." I'm pretty sure that Joss is well-aware of this fact. But he also understood that this movie couldn't just have psychologically-scary villains. It needed something solid, something that the crew could fight against and triumph over. Your average movie-goer needs to see that.
Also? If Joss hovered the threat of Reavers above our heads without ever showing them, it would become meaningless. After a while, we wouldn't be scared anymore simply because we know we're never going to see them. Personally, I was never so much scared of the Reavers themselves as I was the potential harm they could bring to my beloved Serenity crew. Seeing them didn't change that. In fact, it made my fears more prevalent. A certain leaf on the wind comes to mind.
However. The paragraph on Simon and Kaylee is almost exactly how I feel. So instead of rehashing, you can just read the review for yourself.
Everything, obviously, is subjective. Her quote here, "while I (especially by the second time I saw it) had abandoned all hope of the movie's being anything but Firefly's dark, sinister twin" is so different from my mind-set. I loved the change in tone, myself. And I really don't see how "As much as I liked the second half, I - an action movie fan - still had to unclench my fingers from the armrests when it was time to leave the theatre " is a bad thing. I, too, had to unclench my fingers. My legs were weak when I walked out of the theatre. Which I find to be...completely awesome.
As for this... "The planets visited were for the most part not dusty cowtowns, but Blade Runner-esque pillars of seedy techno-underworld communities." I'm a little confused. The first place we see, the institution where River was being experimented on, didn't feel any different in tone as, say, Ariel. The next thing we see is the vault heist, which took place in a setting I would classify as a 'dusty cowtown.' True, Beaumont and Mr. Universe's abode were much more futuristic than we've seen before, but the Maidenhead felt very western-ish to me. Ditto with Haven. It's all about creating a balance, and I feel that Joss did a remarkable job, staying true to the series while being enticing enough to draw in new people. Because hey, Joss is boss.
Overall, I enjoyed the review. It was written by someone who obviously loves the series, so I'm more inclined to hear her criticisms with an open mind. Anyway, I hope this post has made even the slightest of sense. I'm off to class now.