Captain Malcolm Reynolds, a hardened veteran on the losing side of a galactic civil war, now ekes out a living pulling off small crimes and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. He leads a small, eclectic crew who are the closest thing he has left to family - squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal. When Mal takes on two new passengers - a young doctor and his unstable, telepathic sister - he gets much more than he bargained for. The pair are fugitives from the coalition dominating the universe, who will stop at nothing to reclaim the girl. The crew that was once used to skimming the outskirts of the galaxy unnoticed find themselves caught between the unstoppable military force of the Universal Alliance and the horrific, cannibalistic fury of the Reavers, savages who roam the very edge of space. Hunted by vastly different enemies, they begin to discover that the greatest danger to them may be on board Serenity herself. This is the feature film version of the late, lamented sci-fi cult TV series "Firefly." - skip ad - Genres: Action/Adventure and Science Fiction/Fantasy Running Time: 1 hr. 59 min. Release Date: September 30th, 2005 (wide). MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, and some sexual references. Distributor: Universal Pictures Distribution Cast And Credits Starring: Nathan Fillion, Alan Tudyk, Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau, Chiwetel Ejiofor Directed by: Joss Whedon Produced by: Barry Mendel, Christopher Buchanan, David V. Lester

A canceled TV show is reborn on the big screen in Joss Whedon's feature debut, "Serenity," an appealingly low-rent, if not earth-shattering, 26th century "Star Wars" with faint glimmers of "Blade Runner," "Buckaroo Banzai" and "The Manchurian Candidate" for good measure.

Whedon's series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" have inspired die-hard devotion, and when Fox yanked his Western-flavored sci-fi adventure "Firefly" off the air in 2002 after only 11 episodes, a Web-fueled cult sprang up. The series' loyal legions -- aka Browncoats, named after the small band of freedom fighters at the show's center -- have packed previews of "Serenity," which reunites the "Firefly" cast, with the tasty addition of Chiwetel Ejiofor as the intrepid crew's archenemy.

Browncoats will no doubt turn out again when the film, which premiered at the recent Edinburgh International Film Festival, opens wide today. Whether "Serenity" will entice nonaficionados is another question. The characters' mildly offbeat spins on standard action-figure types and the cheeky humor are pluses, and familiarity with the TV show isn't necessary to follow the film. But the Serenity crew's chemistry isn't enough to take this spaceship into the stratosphere, and Whedon unleashes his most provocative ideas too late in the proceedings.

A striking nine-minute pre-credits sequence lays out the crisis at hand. Simon Tam (Sean Maher), a young doctor, rescues his sister, River (Summer Glau), from the clutches of the interplanetary ruling Alliance. A gifted telepath, River has been the subject of Alliance experiments that have turned her into an unpredictable killing machine. When she's not kicking ass, she's a damaged waif in Stevie Nicks hand-me-downs trying to regain control of her mind. Brother and sister secure passage on the Serenity, whose captain, Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds (Nathan Fillion), is a rugged, world-weary cowboy in the classic mold of cynical, reluctant heroes.

Because the Alliance has dispatched an unnamed, ruthless operative (Ejiofor) to retrieve prize experiment River, the Tams' presence on board puts Mal and his crew in danger. Crusty mercenary Jayne (Adam Baldwin) would just as soon drop them off at the next planet. Bickering and banter reign as the crew members chart their clanking spaceship through the hostile universe. Second-in-command Zoe (Gina Torres) is a beautiful black woman with the soul of a quaintly stoic old soldier, and her easygoing husband, Wash (Alan Tudyk), serves as pilot (their relationship, however, barely registers onscreen). Kaylee (Jewel Staite), the ship's farm-girl mechanic, would love nothing more than some private quality time with Simon.

Touching down on Wild West desert landscapes and checking in with wise man Shepherd Book (Ron Glass), the noncutesy Yoda of the piece, the Serenity struggles to elude the ultraorganized Alliance and the murderous, galaxy-roaming Reavers. Along the way, Mal consults with cyberhacker Mr. Universe (David Krumholtz) and reconnects with his vaguely defined Buddhist love interest, Inara (Morena Baccarin).

Whedon's theme of outcasts resisting the intrusions of an omniscient law-and-order government is ever-timely, and his ideas come across with more subtlety than those in "Star Wars" or "Star Trek." Even more timely is a revelation concerning behavior modification gone awry that resonates in this age of Zoloft. But, arriving late in the story, it remains a plot point rather than a developed concept.

As a makeshift family caught between the "calmed" masses and the raging Reavers, the cast acquits itself well. Barry Chusid's flavorful design, especially the ship's thrift-store lava lounge decor, enhances the story's outsider sensibility, with able creative contributions all around.