Firefly was sci-fi series created by Joss Whedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame. It aired on FOX in the fall of 2002 but only lasted 11 episodes. A DVD box set was released and sold very well. Universal produced a movie with the same cast, written and directed by Whedon. There's a good intro at the beginning of the film so you don't need to have watched the series to understand it (since there were so few episodes, they didn't have time to build up too much backstory). But here's some background for those that want it.
Serenity is the name of a Firefly-class transport ship (hence the name of the movie and the series). We follow the adventures of the crew who get one job after another, some legal, some not. The captain is Malcom Reynolds (Nathan Fillion). He an d first mate Zoe (Gina Torres) fought together 6 years prior on the losing side of the Alliance - Independents War. Zoe is married to Wash (Alan Tudyk) the pilot. Kaylee (Jewel Staite) is the engineer and Jayne (Adam Baldwin) is none-to-bright brawn. These five are the main crew, though there are 4 other regulars on board. Inara (Morena Baccarin) is a licensed companion, a future version of a courtesan. She rented a shuttle and met clients on various worlds that Serenity visited. There was romantic tension between she and Mal and she left Serenity between the series and the movie. Shepherd Book (Ron Glass) appeared to be a holy man but had some dark past that was never revealed. He helped out in several missions and also left the ship between the series and the movie. Finally we have a brother and sister pair, Simon (Sean Maher) and River (Summer Glau). River was a child prodigy, able to learn anything from physics to dance, almost instantly. She joined an Alliance facility known as the Academy, but once there was put through medical experiments. Simon rescued her and they are now fugatives anxiously pursued by the Alliance. River is now psychotic and speaks in child-like almost nursery rhymes. She also has shown signs of telepathy and precognition as well as deadly accuracy with a gun and remarkable fighting skills. Simon is a skilled surgeon and is trying to cure her.
FIrefly was known for character driven stories that were often clever takes on standard storylines. As in Farscape, their plans often didn't work and it was a lot of fun watching them get out of it. One episode began with Mal, in the middle of an empty desert landscape, sitting on a rock, naked, saying "Yeah, that went well". It also had very clever dialog, with some very funny banter. Serenity offers all of this in a slightly grittier more action filled package. The story keeps moving throughout the 2 hours and the added budget for effects shows. Serenity fills in many of the mysteries of the series, even a few I didn't realize were mysteries. It also leaves one out, and even goes as far as one character telling Mal (and us) he doesn't have to reveal his past. There are a couple of ridiculous movie moments but the premise doesn't depend on them and the plot is only minorly stretched by them.
If you can't tell, I loved Firefly and I loved Serenity as well. After the film I remembered reading someone's comment after seeing it, "Fuck George Lucas". This is what Sci-Fi and good movie making is about, real plots, real characters, real dialog. Aside from Battlestar Galactica, this is the best Sci-Fi around. I then realized that my true sentiment was really "Fuck FOX" for cancelling this series without giving it a fair chance. I would have much preferred weekly doses of Firefly for several years and based on the DVD sales, I'd say many others would have as well. But if we can't have that, I'll take Serenity any day, and I hope to see sequels.
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