Serenity

Joss Whedon restored a sense of fun to the sci-fi genre with his space saga set aboard renegade ship Serenity.

Joss Whedon restored a sense of fun and adventure to the sci-fi genre with his space saga set aboard the spaceship, Serenity. Any titularly implied tranquillity is shattered when Captain Mal Reynolds agrees to let a telepathic passenger aboard, unaware that she’s harbouring a deadly secret, and incurring the wrath of the totalitarian Alliance and its evil emissary, the Operative.

Whedon’s big-screen adaptation of his cancelled Firefly TV series may have lacked star power but it was a notable success with audiences and – crucially – its core sci-fi constituency, leading to the director’s spectacular next film – The Avengers.