I haven't seen it, but from what I've read Serenity is not a good movie. It's a shame, because the cast is fantastic. Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey, Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway, and impressive actors Djimon Hounsou and Jason Clarke star in the film that clearly doesn't showcase their talent. Or, to quote The Hollywood Reporter, "Serenity leaves its talented cast stranded on the beach." The film was released back in January, but its DVD release this week has resurfaced some of its abysmal reviews. So, for fun, I picked out some of the (best) worst ones.
Most of the reviews I've read have no guilt giving away the film's plot twist, because it's so outrageous. From what I understand, McConaughey's character, Baker Dill, is asked by Anne Hathaway's character, to kill her abusive husband. It seemed compelling for the first half of the film, but that's before the audience discovers that the characters are in a video game. As the Daily Caller's David Hookstead puts it, it was the "stupidest concept" ever conceived in film.
"I’m a huge McConaughey fan, but anybody who wastes a penny on this movie is an idiot," Hookstead adds. "Consider this a PSA for all of you. This movie was the worst movie of 2019, the past decade, the past quarter century and will likely go down as one of the worst entertainment ideas ever produced."
For those who ignored his advice and saw the film, they probably want their money back.
“Serenity is terrible and insane, and will surely end up being one of the worst films of 2019," concluded Christy Lemire at RogerEbert.com.
"The January movie stands out not for its failings, but for the confidence and ingenuity with which it fails," said The Guardian, who also dubbed it "the year's first gloriously bad movie."
The entertainment folks at Esquire gave up on trying to pen a clever title and simply wrote, "Matthew McConaughey's Serenity Is So Insane That No Headline Can Begin to Do It Justice."
So, at the risk of you wasting two hours, I will not recommend Serenity. Go rent McConaughey and Hathaway's other movie, Interstellar, instead.