Seattle fans won't miss their shot at Serenity

A Chinese proverb says "A badly painted tiger looks like a dog; a badly carved swan looks like a duck" meaning it's better not to do certain things than to do them badly.

Serenity, a film based on Joss Whedon's 2001 TV series "Firefly," is an example of science fiction done well. When the film hits theaters tomorrow, it will do so to the delight of thousands eager to see Whedon's next installment of his epic space western -- not too shabby for a series killed by Fox after only 11 episodes.

This enthusiasm is due in part to the response of the series' fans, who at the grassroots level organized the campaign to revive Firefly (ultimately spawning a feature film) and have carried publicity of the film great distances, even as far as Europe and Australia.

The premise isn't too hard to follow: Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Mal) is a hardened veteran on the losing side of a galactic civil war, who now ekes out a living with small crime and transport-for-hire aboard his ship, Serenity. Mal leads a small, eclectic crew that is the closest thing he has left to family: squabbling, insubordinate and undyingly loyal. Then Mal takes on two new passengers -- a pair of fugitives from the coalition dominating the universe.

After this, Serenity has a shot at 2 more sequels while "Firefly" never had a chance.

Four years ago, Fox network executives didn't like the epic, two-hour series opening, so Whedon gave them a different episode.

After being pre-empted for baseball a few times, Fox moved the show to a different night, and finally killed the series. They aired the last three previously-unaired shows the following summer. Then thanks to monumental effort by Whedon and Firefly fans, and a tit-for-tat petition campaign by the folks over at "Enterprise" (the last Star Trek franchise), Universal agreed to a feature film based on the series.

It's a good thing, too. Whedon's writing and directing is top notch, in case you hadn't seen Buffy or Angel. The episodes he wrote and directed from those series are among the finest of 12 seasons of work.

There's no doubt that fans in Seattle will fill theaters opening weekend. Universal held three screenings of an early version of the film in various cities this summer, and Seattle fans flocked to the theater. By the third screening, tickets at Fandango sold out in under 5 minutes.

Universal took a gamble, and it seems to be paying off for them and for fans.

Serenity opens tomorrow at Loews Meridian 16 downtown. 1501 7th Ave.