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It's January 2010—let's look back at the best and worst sci-fi movies of 2009!
The headlines of 2009 went by in a blur. The astonishing discovery in Antarctica, the bizarre twist in the career of past vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the entire Mustardgate scandal and the complete collapse of the Internet have all come and gone.
But the true highlights, as far as we're concerned, were the sci-fi and fantasy movies that continued to dominate the multiplex during the first year of the age of Obama.
With that in mind, it's time for our roundup of the year's best and worst sci-fi, fantasy and horror films of 2009.
BEST, COUNTING DOWN:
5) Monsters vs. Aliens: The funniest CGI cartoon ever made manages the feat only Pixar's The Incredibles managed before it: a complete hilarious sendup of its genre that also manages against all odds to be a thrilling example of that genre at the same time. Moviegoers had reason to fear betrayal when the first coming attraction sped through a dozen hilarious gags in less than two minutes—usually a sure sign that the movie contains nothing else—but the inventive screenplay provides humor and even heartbreak at the same pace, complete with climactic battle against alien invaders that had adults as well as children forgetting that this was just, you know, a cartoon.
4) Watchmen: The last-minute lawsuit that threatened to derail its release may have made us wish we could send Rorschach and the Comedian into a certain corporation's boardroom to dispense their own brand of rough justice, but the film did open as scheduled, the only real impediment to ticket buyers being the outraged purists who picketed several showings bearing signs with legends demanding to know, "Where's the Squid?" Even with the altered ending, the cranky comments from creator Alan Moore and a streamlined storyline that seemed to whiz by at close to three hours—with more from the graphic novel, like an animated "Tales From the Black Freighter," available on the best-selling DVD—Watchmen was a brilliant achievement, nailing the depth of the graphic novel and making what turns out to have been the absolute last word in superhero movies. Special kudos to Billy Crudup for his soulful, spacey performance as Dr. Manhattan.
3) Avatar: At times, James Cameron's oft-delayed return to big-budget science fiction seems more spectacle than compelling story, and a couple of the dramatic scenes are derailed by his famous talent for leaden dialogue. But as a technical achievement, and as melding of cutting-edge visual effects with a genuine sense of wonder, this is the space-travel film some of us have been waiting for since, oh, the original Forbidden Planet. The 3-D effects are as flawless as we've ever seen them, and the ammonia-breathing creatures are a marvel, enlivening an age so surfeited with CGI creatures that we thought we had grown bored with them. Plus, it's a geeky kick to see Sigourney Weaver versus hostile extraterrestrials again, even if her character is more supporting player than centerpiece.
2) Star Trek: Continuity buffs howled. Fans complained. Purists noted the absence of any compelling new ideas and complained that the story could have been transported to any number of other genres or eras without disturbing the basic plot. Critics noticed a couple of gaping plot holes that sped by at breakneck pace. Just about everybody boggled at the prospect of a Kirk who was more hothead than pretentious pontificator. In the end, it didn't matter. Under the able writer/director J.J. Abrams, whose chief advantage in taking the con of the venerable Enterprise was a healthy disrespect for the lore the franchise had accumulated for the past 40 years, the moribund brand found a freshness and a humanity some had feared lost forever. Highlight: Leonard Nimoy's "Old Spock" showing amusement at the brash naivete of young Kirk.
1) The Lovely Bones: Peter Jackson's haunting, elegiac adaptation of the tragic Alice Sebold novel struck many as a departure from his prior special-effects extravaganzas, given that camera tricks are limited to a few brief scenes and the characters communicate in sentences instead of sword thrusts. But as his previous, almost-forgotten stunner Heavenly Creatures demonstrated, he's as adept at stories that hinge on characterization as he is at positioning actors in front of green screens. He might not have scored another hit at the box office, but this nuanced, heartbreaking story, about a little girl murdered by a trusted neighbor whose ghost watches her family live on after her, left the audiences who were adventurous enough to see it stunned and weeping. Saoirse Ronan, who plays the unfortunate ghost, and Stanley Tucci, oozing menace, are both Oscar favorites for 2010.
There was, as usual, no shortage of bad films that rewarded our minimal expectations by not giving us any more or less than we expected of them.
5) Friday the 13th: The wholly unnecessary remake gave us exactly what every other Friday the 13th movie gave us: deaths considerately spaced for audiences who need to know when it's safe to take a snack-bar break.
4) My Bloody Valentine 3-D: Was there ever anybody who expected this to be in the top 99.99 percent of the year's releases?
3) Saw VI: Saw the first five.
2) Underworld: Rise of the Lycans: In a perfect world, rise of the audience, from their seats.
1) Imagine That: Another Eddie Murphy family comedy, this one about a busy dad who enters his daughter's fantasy world. As expected, Murphy mugs—the audience.
By Dr. Meat at 9:32 AM ON 01/14/09
spot on, sir.
i hope you're right.
www.eviljalapeno.com
By JoshP at 9:47 AM ON 01/14/09
These new opinion columns are so bloody awful. Can I have a separate RSS feed for just the news, please?
By tcodee at 10:06 AM ON 01/14/09
who the hell makes best of list before any of the movies come out?
By xevious at 10:07 AM ON 01/14/09
Really not funny, if that is what you are attempting. There is nothing out there that says Star trek and Avatar won't be amazing achievements.
By dlomax at 10:19 AM ON 01/14/09
That was good. Extremely funny, and probably very accurate. How about the same thing for books and TV shows? How disappointing is the Ender requel going to be? How annoyed will we be about the final cylon?
By KansasBard at 10:29 AM ON 01/14/09
I know Sci Fi channel uses the term "sci-fi" liberally when defining it's programming. More often than not, shows fall into what most people would call the horror genre. So I'm used to this kind of misuse of the term "sci-fi."
That said, I don't see how Lovely Bones can be categorized as "sci-fi." At all. This is a drama, a horror story, a supernatural thriller. There is no science in this fiction. It is not "sci-fi."
It's one thing to use the term broadly when defining the channel's science fiction / fantasy / horror programming. It's another thing to misuse the term in your writing.
By DD at 10:46 AM ON 01/14/09
How can one person who HASN'T seen the movie say it's good or bad?
I'd like to remind SciFi wire of their parent company, the SCIFI channel!
Have you WATCHED your Saturday movies? In ANY given Saturday, SciFi channel can top these so-called "worst" movies.
I'm tired of opinion. I want fact. Go back to reporting instead of giving editorials.
By WQ at 10:54 AM ON 01/14/09
Enough is enough. Is there truly that little to report in real news that you have to resort to sensationism? I prefer the old Sci-Fi Wire to this mindless drivel. I'm this close to being done with wasting my time on this bloated excuse for science-fiction genre news and going elsewhere. What was once great about the Sci-Fi Wire died in 2008.
By malars at 10:55 AM ON 01/14/09
In my humble opinion, you have Star Trek too high. It has the possibility of being in the bottom 5 if not done right. Also, Monsters vs. Aliens has a middle-of-the-road type of feel to it. Let's hope I'm wrong. While we're at it, let's hope that Watchmen actually sees the big screen in '09! *crosses fingers*
I agree that Lovely Bones isn't really Sci-Fi. A film that I have high hopes for is The Road, a post-apocalypse drama starring Viggo Mortensen, directed by John Hillcoat (The Proposition), and adapted from a novel by Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men).
By ezzan at 10:59 AM ON 01/14/09
Why didn't X-Men Origins: Wolverine make the list? It is due out May 1, 2009.
By Paul B. at 11:20 AM ON 01/14/09
Folks, SCI FI Wire has gone drastically downhill. This new format is horrible, harder to navigate and UGLY.
Even worse, these mindless lists are driving readers away. (Haven't you noticed the frequent and repeated NEGATIVE comments on this crap?)
This list, for example: give me a damn break! How much more idiotic can you get? First, these are the most obvious SF movies because they are, well, almost ALL of the SF of 2009. Second, of course, is the dumb "it's 2010, let's look back" setup. If there had been any reason for that other than to allow you to shift verb tense, I can't see it.
I'm about to stop visiting SCIFI.com entirely. Used to be that I could come here for current NEWS and fairly well-written articles; now there's mostly just pointless "10 lists" and commentary that is less insightful that the average condom wrapper.
Do us all a favor--we, the readers, and you, SCIFI.com (who doesn't want to LOSE your readers: stop this nonsense and give us back the quality. You can keep the ugly new format if you must (don't!), but please get rid of the juvenile lists and bad writers. (With apologies to juveniles everywhere.)
By Picards_Protege at 11:26 AM ON 01/14/09
I hate to simply repeat what has already been said, but I must agree with the majority of comments posted here and say that I do not like the direction Sci-Fi Wire has gone. Instead of reporting the news – just the facts – you have turned this once rich source of information into little more than a gossip rag, offering frivolous opinions and editorials that simply don’t matter. C’mon guys, remember who your audience is: we read science fiction LITERATURE and watch science fiction television and movies. Don’t insult our collective intelligence.
By Manos at 11:38 AM ON 01/14/09
I have to agree about the new format. TOO MUCH FLUFF, TOO LITTLE NEWS. I have logged on to SciFi.com for well over a decade. It used to be a place where I could get quick, accurate scifi news. Now its just another 'fanboy' site. We don't need another AICN. Give us back our SciFi Wire!
By Thogar at 11:54 AM ON 01/14/09
BLOG-Schlog! Even SciFI Wire's jumping on the already-tired Blogwagon? What's worse it's a blog with a BLINDINGLY WHITE BACKGROUND!
Goodbye, SciFi Wire. Rest in peace.
By Thresher_V at 11:55 AM ON 01/14/09
Lost another reader here. First the channel and now the Wire...STOP screwing with what works.
By JoshP at 12:00 PM ON 01/14/09
Write to editor@scifiwire.com. Maybe they will start to realize that their new direction is losing them readers.
By rbk at 12:20 PM ON 01/14/09
"These new opinion columns are so bloody awful." - Hard not to agree. And since when do some of these movies qualify as sci-fi?
By Tempus13 at 12:40 PM ON 01/14/09
You people need to get over the fact that
"Sci-fi" covers all three Speculative Fiction generes: Sci-fi, Fantasy and Horror.
Any thing related to these 3 genre's belongs under the Sci-Fi heading.
By micjwelch at 12:43 PM ON 01/14/09
The comments left on the end of this are a bit startling to me. I guess it's just a testament to how cynical people are. I thought this article was mildly entertaining, and probably a fairly accurate look into the coming year.
As far as the new layout goes, I do have to agree with the complaints about the white background, but that's pretty minor. And sure, there are times when this resembles io9 a bit too much, but scifiwire seems to be finding it's own place, and I'm glad to see them give it a try.
By pokeyjoey at 12:53 PM ON 01/14/09
A look at the movies of 2009, along with a Liberal bashing of Palin, and adoration of Obama.
Scifi used to not get into the Political Arena, but then came Galactica, and now this.
I can read the NYTimes if I want to see non liberal democrats get bashed.
I agree with the other post that you took a good thing and ruined it.
By Anachronite at 1:02 PM ON 01/14/09
news wire, they are ruining the channel. Get rid of the wrestling and the idiodic reality shows. they all suck, especially ghosthunters. Bring us some SCI-FI!!!!!!
By nickfurry at 1:29 PM ON 01/14/09
I like the new direction. Seems to fulfill a need that Gawker's i09 has created (and fails to fulfill). I can quit reading that one now. Thanks!
By grayson at 1:40 PM ON 01/14/09
It all went downhill after "mustardgate," but the article was worth it just for that first paragraph.
By devo at 6:16 PM ON 01/14/09
Another vote for a return to something like the old format -- I much preferred the much SHORTER teasers on the RSS feed -- these are clogging up my LJ friends list, and I am getting really tired of the preponderance of fluff pieces without any real news content. I'm giving it another week -- if things don't improve, I'm unsubbing from the RSS feed.
By DWB at 7:27 PM ON 01/14/09
I can't believe that they think we like this crap. Proves that they not only don't know their audience but don't know that they're making morons out of themselves.
I REALLY hope they're reading this and get the clue to drop this junk.
By rattlocke at 12:22 AM ON 01/15/09
I got to see a sneak peek of MBV 3-D, and I loved it. Just goes to show you. Never trust someone else's judgment. Trust your own.
By Deadpool at 7:43 AM ON 01/15/09
Underworld Rise Of The Lycans Has Rhona Mitra so who cares if its bad or good.. She was the best part of Doomsday!!
By yea right at 2:53 AM ON 01/17/09
Let's be honest, this Watchman movie looks like the dumbest thing to have come along in quite awhile. Hellboy meets Fredericks of Hollybook...give me a break! I predict that after the opening weekend that this is going to be the "Heavans Gate" of action hero movies.
By L-S at 9:23 AM ON 01/27/09
Clever - be good to review this at year's end and see...
Oh, when sci-fi is bad, it's really awfully bad. How about a 'worst of 2009?' You could, with only slight inversion, make about half of these entries fit.
Visit mobile.syfy.com/wire on your mobile device.
L-S:
Clever - be good to review this at year's end and see... Oh, when sci-fi is bad, it's really awfully bad. How abou...More »