Writing for Blog Critics, Marty Dodge gives an overall favorable review of the new movie Serenity (which we’ve discussed many times before).
His review ends by noting the Rand-esque features of Serenity‘s hero, Malcolm Reynolds:
It is not the best film I have ever seen (Apollo 13 and Bullitt rank as the tops for me) but it is nevertheless a very good 2 hours+ entertainment. I hope that the success of the film encourages Whedon to have another crack at continuing Firefly, or if not, that the fine bunch of actors in this movie go on to other things. I particularly like Nathan Fillion, who looks like an Ayn Rand hero with a wonderfully dry sense of humour, like Clint Eastwood or Spencer Tracy in their pomp.
Two additional parallels with Ayn Rand’s novels:
– Nathan Fillion’s character, Malcolm Reynolds, is a Ragnar-esque pirate who makes his living stealing from a tyrannical government regime
– The entire theme of Serenity is ‘the individual versus the state’
I too enjoyed the movie, and concur with Dodge’s rating of 8-out-of-10. I’d recommend it for anyone who is not disturbed by moderately intense violence.
Even better is the TV series, about which you can learn more by reading the Ascendance of Firefly.