In space, nobody can hear you be a smartass: "Serenity"

I came late to the "Firefly" party, catching the show only recently when the Sci-Fi Channel aired its limited run from a few years back. The series about a ragtag spaceship crew flamed out then but apparently became big enough on DVD that the creator, Buffy wunderkind Joss Whedon, got the green light for a Major Motion Picture. Hence, "Serenity."

Of course, there's a whole mess of folks who never saw "Firefly"; if they had, well, it probably wouldn't have been canceled. Fortunately, "Serenity" should work for them, since it combines a pretty decent story with a light touch by the mostly unknown actors. Compare that with a recently completed George Lucas trilogy in which the only joke was a cast so wooden that Vegas posted 2-to-1 odds that someone would burst into flames onscreen.

In "Serenity," we get the same ragtag crew harboring a brother and sister from some space government called the Alliance. The girl, it turns out, is some kind of killing machine, which is rather entertaining considering she's as big as my thumb. Really, the woman is tiny, but she gets a few chances to deliver the thunder, and it's pretty cool.

As for the crew, we get a poor man's Han Solo, played by the guy who was the girl's boyfriend in "Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place." His No. 2 is a poor woman's Angela Bassett, whose husband, the pilot, is played by the robot from "I, Robot." The tough guy is Adam Baldwin, who actually is not a Baldwin brother but may be familiar from such movies as "Next of Kin" and "My Bodyguard."

You may have noticed I didn't mention many names in the cast. Don't worry, you wouldn't know them. You may not recognize the name of the guy playing the main bad guy, too. That's Chiwetel Ejiofor, whose name I have no idea how to pronounce but who was fantastic in "Dirty Pretty Things." He's solid here as well, playing a samurai-like assassin chasing the crew of Serenity -- the ship's name as well as the title.

Now keep in mind that I'm a sci-fi fan and, sadly, can go easy on such movies from time to time. Hey, this is a guy who paid good money to see both "Supernova" and "Event Horizon." But "Serenity" is legitimately good, and not just because of spaceships whizzing hither and yon. (Although there are some cool chases/battles.) There's also an odd Western tinge to the happenings, with characters wearing dusters and boots and saying stuff like "I aim to misbehave."

Most important, though, is the humor. While this isn't a yukfest -- rightly so -- there's a lot of subtle wit that comes naturally to the cast, especially as the movie goes on. The lead guy -- OK, he's played by Nathan Fillion -- carries himself well as he shifts from jokes to punches. Baldwin also is pretty amusing, and others get into the act along the way.

It may seem like a little thing, but levity and sharp wit make a big difference in this kind of movie. Sure, we ooohh and ahhhed at the Death Star and the lightsabers in "Star Wars." But it was Han Solo's wisecracks and devil-may-care demeanor that made him supremely cool. Without that attitude, there's no way the Millennium Falcon makes the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs.