Poor Things (5*)
Godzilla Minus One (4*)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 (3.5*)
Nimona (3.5*)
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (3*)
The Creator (2.5*)
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2.5*)
I enjoy Science Fiction movies more than most because I like the way imaginations can envision new worlds and how those worlds affect the people who live in them. There were seven movies on the 2024 Oscars nominee list that are considered science fiction films and I can recommend four of them.
Still one of my favorite films of the year – and I am in the minority on this one – is Poor Things with Emma Stone as a woman whose brain was replaced with that from her own baby! The concept is, of course, so incredibly over the top that you have no idea what to expect. But add to that a fantastical set of worlds where she travels and some very up-front sexual awakenings and you have an all fronts assault on the eyes, ears, and mind. This film is not for everyone, but if you want a fast run through the history of womanhood, felt through the body of a woman and interpreted through the mind of child, you will find this film terrific.
The all-time audience favorite and a new entry in the longest running film franchise in history is Godzilla Minus One. If I remember right, my introduction to science fiction was one of the original Godzilla movies from at least 60 years ago. The film won the Visual Effects Oscar based, primarily, on the monster’s charging sequence and the destruction it unleashes on a Tokyo neighborhood. The science fiction film effects are embedded in an interesting family story and the film also serves as an exploration of Japanese national character. It has its flaws, but is gigantically entertaining.
And, if entertainment is what you want, you can’t miss the latest installment in one of the few comic book movie series that I like, the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Although not as good as the first two, this one combines incredible CGI worlds with the funny and strange characters that makeup this oddball family. This one tells the sad origin story for Rocket, the rodent voiced by Bradley Cooper amid a galactic level assault with some new heroes and villains. All round good fun amid the science fiction wows.
Nimona is an animated film that just barely makes my recommended list, but it seems to me it is really more of a fantasy film. Written by a leading trans-gender author of graphic novels, the featured character is, indeed, someone of ambiguous gender. And the real value of this film lies more in what it says about being transgender than in the rather awkward and shallow story-line. Note, though, that this will not appeal to some viewers.
Two of the 2024 year science fiction films I cannot recommend. I was really looking forward to The Creator and was heavily disappointed. There are so many depths to the issue of artificial intelligence that I simply expected more from a movie on the topic. The child-like robot was very much human-like, but the film was more interested in exploring its similarities to action movies than in actually plumbing science fiction depths. I’m not sure who would benefit from this film.
Disappointing in other ways was the final film in the Indiana Jones series, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. This film had the largest budget of any on the list this year and used it to not only pay Harrison Ford, but also deage him by computer so we could have vivid flashbacks to what he looked like in his 30s. The problem, of course, with deaging is that it might be able to make physical characteristics look decades younger, but it doesn’t work so well on making them move younger. And, sadly, without Spielberg at the helm, the action sequences just didn’t pop. Finally, this was really more of an action film with the science fiction only having to do with some time travel stuff that didn’t really work well. Watch only if you have a real need to see all of the Indiana Jones movies!
Two of the 2023 Oscar science fiction films are must-sees, especially if you like the genre. The Best Picture winner, Everything, Everywhere, All at Once (4.5*) surprised me. It is an amazing discourse on the multiverse, nihilism, and postmodernism. Those are big philosophical concepts and even the idea that you could attempt to deal with them in a film where one of the central images is of an Everything Bagel, is, well, preposterous. A more conventional science fiction film is Avatar: The Way of Water (4*), the sequel to the original. Using state of the art motion-capture technology is a treasure trove of visual effects and just so much fun as they take their imaginations and technology under water. It plods a bit as it sets up some possible future sequels, but overall, is totally enjoyable.
So if science fiction films are your game, then there are six of them from the last two Oscar years. Watch until you feel yourself living in another world!
