It's time to count down the twenty greatest science-fiction films the last decade offered us! Keep in mind, the parameters of a sci-fi flick are very specific: the inclusion of aliens/alien worlds, robots, time travel, dystopian/post-apocalyptic stories, outer space, futuristic technology that obviously doesn't exist in real life (or DOES it?), or themes regarding genetics. This keeps this list separate from films with supernatural, magical, or metaphysical themes that are better defined as "fantasy" (such as
The Lord of the Rings,
Harry Potter, or
The Chronicles of Narnia). And since I'm crafting a list for such films in the future, fully-animated films will not be included. On to the list!
20.
The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
Be aware that I only reluctantly include this film in my list, as neither this or "The Matrix Revolutions" come even close to capturing the sheer excitement and originality of the 1999 original. But as far as mindblowing visual effects and fight scenes go, "The Matrix Reloaded" greatly excels. The beautiful, anime-inspired action keeps the viewer transfixed to the screen, even though the quasi-religious gobbledegook of the plot begins to collapse under itself. Still, the scenes featuring human messiah Neo (Keanu Reeves) facing off against dozens of Agent Smiths (Hugo Weaving) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) battling evil albino "ghosts" on a highway are still pretty badass.
19.
V for Vendetta (2006)
"Remember, remember, the fifth of November". This eerie rhyme sets the tone for the adaptation of Alan Moore's popular dystopian graphic novel, "V for Vendetta", a terrific thriller in the same vein as "1984", "Blade Runner", and "Twelve Monkeys". Set in the not-too-distant-future of London, a highly totalitarian government rules England with an iron fist, controlling all forms of police and the media for its own personal gain. Only a masked, mysterious vigilante known only as "V" (Hugo Weaving) stands up to this regime, creating a cult of personality amongst the downtrodden Londoners, who slowly rise to rebel against the government. A brilliantly-conceived political thriller, with plenty of style and action to spare.
18.
I Am Legend (2007)
It must suck being the last man on Earth. It clearly isn't good for treating loneliness, nor does it soothe one's nerves since hordes of mindless, vampiric zombies are on your tail once night falls. So for scientist and lone survivor Robert Neville (Will Smith), you gotta start a routine for survival: wake up in the morning, go out with your canine companion to get groceries, chat it up with the mannequin "customers" at the video store, send out the same message via radio to any other possible survivors, and then lock up your apartment at sunset so those nasty, sun-intolerant zombies can't get at you. But unfortunately for Neville, some of those zombies seem to be getting a bit smarter, and craftier. So it's up to him to find a potential cure and help save the human race. A starkly emotional performance by Smith elevates "I Am Legend" to a grim, human experience, not just a special effects extravaganza.
17.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
James Cameron's 1991 "Terminator 2" certainly raised the bar when it came to special effects, what with the fabulous inclusion of the liquid metal T-1000 character. So after Cameron left the franchise, many thought the "Terminator" series was done for. But of course, no profitable franchise EVER ends, so director Jonathan Mostow helmed the third entry in the killer-cyborg series. Of course, it's nowhere near as influential as the first two, but surprisingly, this effort isn't half-bad. Following future-savior-of-mankind John Connor (Nick Stahl) as a nomadic adult, "T3" not only brings back the heroic T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger before heading off to become the Governator), but a new, sexier villian in the T-X, or "Terminatrix" (Kristanna Loken). With tons of awesome action setpieces, "T3" actually ends on a highly emotional note, bringing a satisfying end to the (first) "Terminator" trilogy.
16.
Frequency (2000)
A subtle, yet engrossing drama, "Frequency" is an intimate look into the relationship between father and son that never was. Thirty years ago, firefighter and family man Frank Sullivan (Dennis Quaid) died in a warehouse blaze. Flashforward to the present day, and his troubled policeman son John (Jim Caviezel) is struggling to truly find his place in the world. But when John finds his father's old ham radio, the unexpected happens: aurora borealis activity causes John to be able to contact his father thirty years in the past. Warning Frank of his premature death, John attempts to reconnect with his father, in hopes of altering the past to make his family whole again. A terrific, story-driven film with stellar performances by the two leads.
15.
Transformers (2007)
Let's get one thing straight: I thoroughly despise Michael Bay. The epitome of style over substance, Bay never finds a cliche or explosion he doesn't like. But for some morbid reason, I ended up enjoying (at least on an aesthetic level) his big-screen adaptation of the popular 1980's Hasbro toyline of "robots in disguise". The plot is merely perfunctory: a bunch of good robots fight a bunch of bad robots, blah blah blah, they're after some all-powerful cube, yadda yadda yadda, Shia LeBeouf and human Barbie doll Megan Fox get involved, etcetera etcetera. All of that doesn't matter when it comes to the dazzling, photorealistic CGI and action sequences. A highly entertaining way to waste time if you love nonstop destruction and a bunch of product placement.
14.
Superman Returns (2006)
In 1978, director Richard Donner and actor Christopher Reeves launched the superhero film genre with "Superman", which remains one of the best comic book movies to date, thanks to a winning performance by Reeves, then-state-of-the-art special effects, and that legendary score by John Williams. After a superb sequel in 1982, and two highly subpar sequels after that, the Man of Steel finally returned to the big screen in director Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns", a loving homage to the original Donner film. Though nowhere near as good as the first two movies, "Returns" still stays true to the spirit of the character, with Brandon Routh ably filling in the late Reeves' cape and boots, and Kevin Spacey hamming it up wonderfully as Lex Luthor. Watch for a cleverly-inserted, posthumous cameo by Marlon Brando as Jor-El.
13.
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence (2001)
In a future where the human population is greatly depleted, mankind's best bet to revive civilization is through the creation of "mechas", androids programmed with the capacity for emotion and free thought. When a child mecha named David (Haley Joel Osment) is on the run for almost killing a real child by accident, he's joined by fellow android outlaw Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), all as David hopes he can be transformed into a real boy. Obviously owing its influences to "Pinocchio", "A.I." is a mixture of director Steven Spielberg's penchant for warmth and optimism, and Stanley Kubrick's habit for crafting bleak, almost frightening future realities (Kubrick, who crafted the story in the 1970's, died two years before the film's release). A moving, thoughtful, and ultimately uplifting science-fiction yarn.
12.
X-Men (2000)
The X-Men were always intended to be comic books' weirdoes and outcasts. After all, being introduced in the 1960's, the misunderstood mutant heroes served as a perfect allegory for racism, anti-semitism, and the Red Scare. Social themes like that made a film adaptation make total sense, and under the helm of director Bryan Singer, it works just perfectly. A unique, dazzling, and almost surreal sci-fi action flick, "X-Men" restarted the superhero film genre, and also introduced a rising star in Aussie actor Hugh Jackman, who played clawed badass Wolverine with raw intensity. Plus, Rebecca Romijn gets naked and blue!
11.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
The late British author and radio personality Douglas Adams' now-classic "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series was a seminal landmark in the realm of both science fiction and surreal comedy, spawning many radio adaptations, but would a film version do it justice? Well, most say that NO movie adaptation couldn't even stack up, but Garth Jennings' goofy, occasionally brilliant, and VERY British incarnation of Adams' book does come rather close. When a race of aliens called Vogons destroy Earth to make way for an interstellar expressway, a lone surviving human named Arthur Dent (Martin Freeman) goes on a crazy adventure of galactic proportions, meeting a variety of strange characters along the way, all as film searches for the ever-elusive meaning of life. An almost Pythonesque experience (pretty much an intergalactic kissing cousin to "Monty Python's Meaning of Life"), "Hitchhiker" is a colorful, wildly imaginative, and even introspective look into what we're truly doing in this universe.
10.
X2: X-Men United (2003)
After scoring it big with "X-Men", Bryan Singer continued his saga about the misfit mutants in "X2", only this time it's bigger, better, and more mature in its execution. Loosely based on the classic X-Men graphic novel "God Loves, Man Kills", "X2" expands on the social allegories introduced in the first film, best personified when teenage mutant Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) is asked by his parents if he could try NOT being a mutant (a clear reference to homophobia and gay persecution). Singer, who's gay and Jewish, never lets the cool action scenes overshadow the emotional resonance of the story, where the "normal" humans, like bigoted Army General William Stryker (Brian Cox) are the potential monsters, while the "unnatural" mutants are merely trying to find their place in the world.
9.
Minority Report (2002)
You'd think that it'd be useful when people could actually foresee crimes, and have the perpetrators arrested before they even committed the crime. But what if a cop dedicated to serving and protecting is found to be one of those potential murderers, and is forced to go on the run? Movie maestro Steven Spielberg crafts an engaging, gritty, and engaging sci-fi mystery based on Philip K. Dick's short story "The Minority Report", mixing futurism with aspects of a film noir detective story. And even Tom Cruise turns in a performance that ISN'T douchey for once!
8.
Watchmen (2009)
Have you ever wondered what would've happened if pivotal moments in history turned out differently? Like if we won the Vietnam War? Or if Richard Nixon remained in office... for three more terms? That's one of the more intriguing aspects of Zack Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore's classic and critically-acclaimed graphic novel "Watchmen", a superhero movie mixed with mystery, political intrigue, and a subversive look into the human condition. Though not without its flaws, the movie version of "Watchmen" still has moments of absolute brilliance, capturing moments from the comic straight from the panel. Jackie Earle Haley and Jeffrey Dean Morgan steal the show as disturbed vigilantes Rorschach and The Comedian, respectively, and the visual effects are a wonder to behold.
7.
Equilibrium (2002)
In a dystopian world where emotion is outlawed in order to preserve social order, one man realizes the need for emotion in an already broken world. Christian Bale plays law-enforcement officer John Preston, who enforces anti-emotion mandates to the fullest extent of the law, thanks in part to his highly proficient combat skills. After missing an injection of the mandatory emotion-suppressing drug, Preston begins to change his outlook on what he's been ordered to do, and eventually goes underground to fight against the oppressive government he previously worked for. A highly underrated action film with a highly original premise, "Equilibrium" will always be best known for its outstanding fight scenes (including the fictional and very cool martial arts discipline known as "Gun Kata"), and its blend of film noir and dystopian science fiction.
6.
Iron Man (2008)
You know you have a great movie on your hands when the title character shares his name with a Black Sabbath song. Jon Favreau sure did, and he blew audiences away with his adaptation of Marvel Comics' Golden Avenger. With a terrific, laidback, and hilarious lead performance by Robert Downey, Jr., great supporting performances by Gwenyth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges, a slick screenplay, and fabulous special effects, "Iron Man" brought superhero movies out of the slump caused by "Fantastic Four", "X-Men 3", and "Spider-Man 3", as well as setting the stage for the eventual all-star "Avengers" film down the road.
5.
Serenity (2005)
It's unfortunate when a good thing comes to an end too quickly. This was certainly the case for Joss Whedon's highly popular, critically-acclaimed sci-fi television series "Firefly", which was canceled after 11 episodes in 2002 due to low ratings. Luckily, Whedon's Hollywood influence allowed for the franchise to live on at least once more in a film adaptation, titled "Serenity". About a group of renegade space pirates in the 26th century, "Serenity" is one of the rare sci-fi subgenres: the sci-fi western. Like the original 1977 "Star Wars" before it, "Serenity" employs a "used galaxy" feel, where the Wild West meets space opera. An exciting, funny, and wonderful coda to the "Firefly" legacy.
4.
District 9 (2009)
Back in 2005, South African filmmaker Neill Blomkamp directed a six-minute short entitled "Alive in Joburg", a pseudo-documentary about displaced aliens being shuffled into slums in the South African city of Johannesburg, a clear allegory to the apartheid that plagued the country. It was only until Peter Jackson showed up as producer that Blomkamp adapted his short into a feature-length film, expanding upon the themes of racism, military privatization, and cultural separatism in the terrific "District 9". Starring newcomer Sharlto Copley as man-in-the-field government agent Wikus van der Werwe, a man who undergoes a horrific transformation and is forced to go on the run with the aliens he once helped oppress, "District 9" never gets too preachy in its message, but still remains relevant enough to make the viewer think about real-life horrors that the film is inspired by.
3.
Children of Men (2006)
Imagine that in the near future, mankind was no longer able to reproduce, making homo sapiens an endangered species destined to die out within a hundred years. Now imagine that you discover a young woman with a secret: she's pregnant. For former activist Theo Faron (Clive Owen), he faces such a predicament, and now must guide pregnant refugee Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) to a safe haven while avoiding not only the dystopian chaos plaguing the world since the infertility of mankind, but also the various groups dead-set on obtaining Kee's child for their own radical purposes. A grim, innovative, and masterful piece of filmmaking bolstered by terrific direction by Alfonso Cuaron, a great screenplay, and thrilling cinematography, especially its single-shot action sequences.
2.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Love truly has no boundaries, not even the confines of the human mind. Michel Gondry's trippy, surreal, and highly imaginative romantic drama "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" plays up on that philosophy, examining the nature of the mind, the heart, and true love. Nonlinear in its narrative and decidedly unconventional in its execution, the story follows Joel Barish (Jim Carrey), a withdrawn man who was not only dumped by his free-spirit girlfriend of two years, Clementine (Kate Winslet), but also finds out that she had all her memories of their relationship erased by a non-surgical procedure called "targeted memory erasure". Despondent, Joel decides to undergo the same procedure, but while unconscious during the operation, Joel realizes that some memories are too cherished to be erased. A fantastical journey both visually and emotionally, "Eternal Sunshine" boasts two terrific performances by Carrey and Winslet, and a spectacular study of the human mind.
1.
Star Trek (2009)
"Space... the final frontier..." After ten films and five television series, you'd think we'd be sick of hearing that same classic catchphrase again. But luckily, J.J. Abrams' reboot of the venerable "Star Trek" franchise proves that an old dog can certainly learn new tricks. Rather than being a straight-up prequel, Abrams cleverly maintains the previous continuity of Gene Roddenberry's franchise, but then veers into a new, fresh direction in the origins of Kirk, Spock, Uhura, et al. "Star Trek" paves the way for new possibilities while remaining totally faithful and respectful towards its predecessors. Exciting, exhilarating, funny, tongue-in-cheek, and even emotionally gratifying, "Star Trek" is not only a triumph of directing, screenwriting, and technical wizardry, but of casting as well. Chris Pine does an exemplary job filling in Shatner's uniform as the rebellious young Kirk, and Zachary Quinto nails the role of Spock just as well as Leonard Nimoy did (and it helps that Nimoy himself shows up for a very welcome extended cameo). But above all else, "Star Trek" aims for what the original television series did proficiently: deliver a fun, engaging, and completely cathartic experience for the audience. A terrific exercise in flawless filmmaking and cinematic panache, "Star Trek" ranks as the greatest science-fiction film of the last decade.
And now the Top Five WORST Sci-Fi Films of the Decade:
5.
Fantastic Four (2005)
Once "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" revitalized the superhero movie craze, it was only natural that Marvel's First Family of Superheroes were going to reach the silver screen. Sadly, little to no reverence was paid to the Fantastic Four, in this campy, poorly written, and poorly cast quagmire. With the exception of Chris Evans as the Human Torch and Michael Chiklis as the Thing, the characters are horribly portrayed, and it doesn't help that the special effects aren't even that special to look at.
4.
Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones (2002)
Didn't think George Lucas had enough destroying the once-fabulous space saga he created with "The Phantom Menace"? Think again. Though he scaled down the role of prattling moron character Jar Jar Binks, Lucas still made the unwise decision to both write and direct this ridiculous piece of crap. And Hayden Christensen as a young Darth Vader? Please. Even the film's subtitle is worthy of ridicule.
3.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
Don't let my half-assed praise for the first "Transformers" fool you: if Michael Bay restrained himself (to a degree) from his usual hack-director tendencies the first time around, then we put too much trust in him the second time around. Longer, louder, and a LOT dumber than the first film, "Revenge of the Fallen" is an embarrassment of epic proportions: humping dogs? Check. Humping robots? Check. Robots with testicles? Check. Awful dialogue, terrible performances, bloated runtime? Check, check, check. Oh yeah, and two racially-stereotypical robot characters? That's a big, fat, jive-talkin' check.
2.
The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)
In developmental hell since the '80s, shelved for two years after production, and unwisely unleashed on innocent audiences across the world, the critical and commercial disaster called "Pluto Nash" was only the beginning of the end for Eddie Murphy's career, becoming, to date, the biggest flop in film history, making only $7 million dollars on a $100 million + budget.
1.
Battlefield Earth (2000)
Take a terrible screenplay based on author and religious hustler L. Ron Hubbard's 1,000-page novel, a hackneyed production, and a horrific performance by John Travolta (who helped get the project off the ground, with his own money, no less), and you've got literally one of the WORST wastes of celluloid ever made.
