SauronsBANE's Top 5 Sci-fi Movies of 2014

For any genre of film, I find there's a certain "test" you can use to quickly determine its relative growth and overall health for any given year. I don't think it matters if you're talking about action/adventure, romantic comedies, thrillers, or science fiction - if most of those films end up feeling exactly the same as the next, that may be an indication that a particular genre is either stagnant and treading water, or trending in the wrong direction altogether.

Think of it in terms of comic book movies, with the current deluge that we've been experiencing the last few years; with comic book movies threatening to take over Hollywood, it's no surprise everyone pretty much considers them to be an entirely separate genre of its own.

But ask yourself: does every comic book movie look, feel, and act exactly the same as all the others? Of course not (or at least, the good ones don’t). Nowadays, almost every single one feels distinct and unique in its own way. . .and I don't think the timing is a coincidence at all, as we just might be living through one of the greatest ages of comic book movies in recent memory.

The key here, I believe, is diversity. It helps movies avoid the pitfall of becoming stale and instead keeps things fresh, original, and exciting. . .which is exactly the type of thing that draws audiences to the theaters week after week.

So that brings us to the last few years and, specifically, to the heaps of varied sci-fi movies Hollywood has been churning out lately.

Last year, for instance, saw audiences flock to see the minimalistic (yet emotionally powerful) thriller in Gravity. This other sci-fi powerhouse set records at the box office, but the most notable thing about The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is that it is one of the few genuinely great, female-led science fiction movies out there.

Heck, you can add Star Trek Into Darkness, Man of Steel, Elysium, Pacific Rim, Iron Man 3, and many more to that list as well. And of course, we have the highly-anticipated Jurassic World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens all due out next year.

For sci-fi fans, it's certainly a fantastic time to be a moviegoer, and 2014 proved to be a continuation of that trend. Here are my top-5 rankings and honorable mentions (in no particular order) for the best sci-fi movies we saw this year:

Honorable Mentions:

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Introducing and creating new timelines, wiping out past continuity, resetting the future, and paving the way for a new storyline with a younger cast - in a sense, X-Men: Days of Future Past just might have been one of the most comic-accurate films in recent memory.

. . .Not because anyone in the movie actually resembles their comic book counterpart, mind you, but pretty much because its sole function was to act as one massive ret-con to fix previous mistakes. Let's be real, it doesn't get much more comic-booky than that!

It also goes heavy on the sci-fi, with the involvement of time travel, a dystopian future, and highly-advanced, mutant-killing robots. But don't take the omission of Days of Future Past from one of the top 5 spots as a slight on the movie itself (well, actually it is. But only a little one). . .just think of it as more of a statement on the sheer volume of high-quality sci-fi films released this year!

Godzilla

Ah yes, the King of the Monsters himself! Nothing defines the sci-fi genre more than a giant lizard battling pissed-off kaijus and causing massive worldwide destruction in the process.

So. . .why is this bumped all the way down to an honorable mention? To be fair, it gets so much right!

• Godzilla is portrayed as a literal force of nature. . .albeit modernized to reflect on our culture and play off some of our worst fears - the use of nuclear weapons, the dangers of radioactivity, and high tensions between suspicious nations.
• Our favorite oversized, kick-ass reptile ends up being the good guy. Well, the inadvertent good guy, at least. But as any hardcore fan can tell you, that's exactly the way it should be!
• Godzilla's screen-time is limited. Director Gareth Edwards doesn't blow his load by assaulting our senses with Transformers-level action scenes, and the constant teases of the titular monster only make the 3rd act that much more epic. If you weren't on your feet cheering when Godzilla's spikes lit up as he charged his atomic breath, I regret to inform you that you may not have a soul.

But unfortunately, there's just a few too many missteps for me to include it in the list. For one thing, the film shoots itself in the foot early on by killing off Bryan Cranston and replacing his charisma with Aaron Taylor-Johnson's wooden, stiff character Ford Brody. Elizabeth Olsen, who plays his wife, is also criminally underused. And while the human element has never been a strength in any Godzilla movie, their story in this movie is just not compelling enough to make up for the lack of screentime for the big G.

At the end of the day, it's a solidly entertaining sci-fi movie that has quite a lot of redeeming qualities. . .but it's not quite top-5 material.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

This series has its roots in sci-fi lore, and the originals still hold up today as some of the best examples of relevant, thought-provoking social commentary. . .which just so happen to have a premise based on ridiculously intelligent primates. The reboot/semi-prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes turned out to be a surprise hit back in 2011, and incoming director Matt Reeves upped the ante by improving the sequel in almost every conceivable way.

Unlike Rise, however, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is much more focused on the inevitable rising conflict between the humans and the apes, and less so on the sci-fi elements involved in their origins. Indeed, thanks to (in my opinion) the Oscar-worthy performances of Andy Serkis and Toby Kebbell, and a clear thematic emphasis on the apes realizing they're really no different from their human enemies, the apes practically feel like human characters themselves. Combined, these factors further downplay the inherent science fiction-ness of the proceedings.

So despite its obvious connections to the sci-fi genre and the incredibly high quality of the film itself, I feel it would be disingenuous to include Dawn of the Planet of the Apes in my top 5, seeing how it's probably more of a drama or thriller than a pure sci-fi spectacle.

Big Hero 6

Filled with heart, genuine emotion, relevant themes, and a great message, Big Hero 6 just might be one of the biggest pleasant surprises of the year. It contains a refreshingly strong pro-science stance that, when combined with plenty of memorable and well-written characters, proves to be the driving force behind this charming family-friendly movie.

It also doesn't hurt that it has the distinction of being incredibly funny (seriously, Baymax steals the show here. I'd rank him up there with Groot and even the Iron Giant in terms of lovable, hilarious, stand-out non-human characters), yet sober enough to provide a rather deep commentary on how to move on from a loved one's death.

If you're looking for an optimistic, hilarious, and unabashedly fun sci-fi movie, Big Hero 6 is the movie for you!

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1

At the risk of making my Honorable Mentions rival the actual Top 5 (I'll try to keep this short, I promise), I would be remiss not to include the penultimate installment of the massively successful sci-fi franchise, The Hunger Games.

Bottom line - not only are these some of the best examples of pure sci-fi goodness, but they also stand as extremely high-quality films in their own right. After a somewhat shaky start with The Hunger Games in 2012, this franchise really showed off its goods a year later with Catching Fire. Mockingjay - Part 1 simply continues the upward trend of a surprisingly great story.

The thing that sets these movies apart from the rest, in my opinion, is the strong political messages that they never attempt to shy away from. Rather than immediately making Jennifer Lawrence's main character a straight-up revolutionary hero like most other stories would've done, these films take pains to portray Katniss Everdeen as a political cog in the machine. After being forced to deftly use the established, corrupted system to her own benefit in The Hunger Games, and after cleverly figuring out how to use that system to fight itself in Catching Fire, Mockingjay sees Katniss finally standing up to the system and fighting against it outright, tooth-and-nail.

Make no mistake, she eventually does get to be that badass revolutionary leader. . .but it's taken the better part of three movies to get there. And that's the key - there's been a fully-realized progression taking place in order to get Katniss to this point. I'm embarassed to admit that I used to be completely uninterested in and dismissive of The Hunger Games, but you'd be hard-pressed to find another series of movies (let alone sci-fi movies) that are as deep, compelling, layered, and smart as The Hunger Games. And though it suffers a bit from being split up into two parts, Mockingjay is certainly no exception.

Plus, I defy anyone to listen to Jennifer Lawrence's powerful "The Hanging Tree" song and succeed in getting it out of their head.

Seriously, I've tried.

It's impossible.

Top 5

5) Edge of Tomorrow

Saddled with strictly superficial similarities (try saying that 5 times fast, I dare you) to the forgettable Oblivion (which also features Tom Cruise in the lead role), a misleading marketing campaign that did the movie no favors, and an awfully generic title that led to the 'officially unofficial' name change to Live. Die. Repeat., this film faced an uphill battle at the box office right from the get-go and didn't perform nearly as well as it could have as a result.

But like Big Hero 6, Edge of Tomorrow turned out to be another pleasant surprise that was probably much better than it had any right to be. In addition to being a genuinely great summer blockbuster (proving yet again that summer blockbusters shouldn't need to be dumbed down for the masses), it's also one of the year's best all-around sci-fi flicks.

Tom Cruise is perfectly cast as the coward-turned-hero William Cage, but (future Captain Marvel) Emily Blunt is an undeniable scene-stealer with her badass portrayal of the 'Full Metal Bitch', Rita Vrataski. Their performances are the linchpin that holds this story together, but the most rewarding part of Edge of Tomorrow is how it perfectly mimics a gamer's experience with many video games - being dropped into the heat of battle, getting as far as you can get before being killed, constantly memorizing and adjusting to the movements of the enemy in order to plan your next attack, and re-living the experience as many times as it takes to win and move on.

Yep, this is one of the rare instances where comparing a movie to a video game is actually a compliment. In terms of originality, pulse-pounding action sequences, outstanding performances, and just purely unadulterated sci-fi fun, Edge of Tomorrow earns the honor of being one of the top 5 sci-fi movies of the year.

4) Interstellar

Say what you want about Interstellar, but it's easily one of the most ambitious movies of the year. That's not even up for debate.

The visuals are simply incredible to look at (especially on a real IMAX screen, 70mm film and all), Hans Zimmer's score is as bombastic as ever, and you'll most likely be brought to tears repeatedly throughout its runtime. But unfortunately, 'ambitious' doesn't automatically equal 'masterpiece', and so I must begrudgingly place this at number 4 in my rankings.

It might be unfair to grade Interstellar based on expectations, but that's just what comes from having Christopher Nolan's name attached to anything these days - people simply expect more than they normally would.

Specifically, I think the film suffers from some pacing issues (which makes the movie feel even longer than it already is), a mountain of clunky expository dialogue (though, to be fair, we'd probably be totally lost without most of those lines), and a tonally-jarring 3rd act that, though I have no problem with a film going philosophical and abstract on us, just isn't set up very well (the somewhat lackluster finale definitely makes me wonder how different this movie would've been under the direction of the brilliant Steven Spielberg, who was originally attached to the project).

But there is a reason Interstellar still cracks my top 5, and not being a masterpiece is hardly a damning critique. It's certainly Nolan's most heartfelt and poignant film yet and, while parts of the 3rd act did rub me the wrong way, it was still a very emotionally satisfying way to conclude the story. Admittedly, I'm much more forgiving of a movie that tries too hard and overextends its reach, rather than one that plays it safe and doesn't try at all.

Filled to the brim with a world-class cast, brilliant cinematography, inspirational themes, and a story that will wring the emotion out of you, the thought-provoking Interstellar most definitely falls into the former category, and it's more than good enough to land this sci-fi epic at number 4 on this list.

3) Snowpiercer

Yeah, yeah, I know I might be cheating here by including this movie on a list of 2014 sci-fi flicks. Thanks to a bit of controversy with control over the editing and its subsequent release date, Snowpiercer actually premiered worldwide in 2013. It only arrived in U.S. theaters in 2014, and even then with a very limited release. Honestly, I was this close to leaving it off this list altogether due to that technicality. . .but man, that would've just been downright criminal.

It's unfortunate that the unnecessary pettiness behind the release ended up hamstringing its box office totals and hurting its overall popularity, because the glorious, batshit-craziness of Snowpiercer is undoubtedly a sight to see. Chris Evans (and especially the scenery-chewing Tilda Swinton) gives one of his most affecting performances as an actor, the set design and wildly-changing tones lend to the unique atmosphere in Snowpiercer, and the scathing political and social commentary makes this a movie that will stick with you for a long time.

The very premise of it (in the not-too-distant future, an attempt at fixing global warming backfires horribly and renders the Earth uninhabitable. The only saving grace is a high-speed train that circumnavigates the globe once a year, carrying the last remnant of humanity) is utterly out-there, but South Korean director Bong Joon-ho is never concerned with trivial things such as 'realism' or 'logic'. He's got far more important things on his mind, and the film is greatly enhanced by that mindset.

As the film goes on, our heroes must face cold-hearted decisions and a class-warfare struggle that turns into a revolution, during which everyone seems to lose a chunk of their humanity as things come to a head in the gut-punching 3rd act. . .and even then, the audience is forced to consider whether the entire endeavor was even worth it in the first place. Snowpiercer functions as a phenomenal allegory, it puts most big-budget action blockbusters to shame, and everyone owes it to themselves to go out and see this sci-fi masterpiece.

2) Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Personally, I loved Captain America: The First Avenger and consider it one of Marvel's more underrated MCU films. . .but it's unquestionable that The Winter Soldier was the Captain America movie we all wanted and needed. It perfectly rounded out Cap's The First Avenger/The Avengers/The Winter Soldier 'trilogy' while also setting the stage for both Age of Ultron and Civil War. In my opinion, it was probably the most well-made, most complete movie of 2014.

Having said all that. . .that's not what this top 5 list is about, is it? It's the top 5 science fiction movies, and that's a key difference.

I honestly struggled with placing this movie so high on the list, for the very same reason I bumped Dawn of the Planet of the Apes all the way down to an honorable mention - I'm just not convinced The Winter Soldier is really interested in being a sci-fi film, first and foremost.

I know what you're probably thinking: sure, with the presence of an evil Nazi organization hidden in the shadows, a subtitle based on a brainwashed assassin with a metal arm, and a pivotal scene involving a long-dead character who has transferred his consciousness to a computer, you can absolutely argue that The Winter Soldier fully fits within the realm of a science fiction movie.

But isn't it fair to say that the film has its attention trained elsewhere? It doesn't quite downplay its own sci-fi elements like Dawn of the Planet of the Apes does (to an extent), but I do believe most people would instinctively classify The Winter Soldier as a political thriller before anything else.

Yet ironically enough, that's also the reason why I still ended up placing The Winter Soldier in the coveted number 2 spot. Yeah it's true that, above all, it's a political thriller masquerading as a comic book movie. Sure, it's mostly interested in telling a deeply personal story about Captain Rogers' place in modern-day society. And of course, it also provides the practical purpose of permanently (say that 5 times. . .okay I'm sorry, I'll stop now) changing the course of the rest of the MCU with the downfall of SHIELD.

But somehow, the Russo brother directing-duo managed to expertly balance each and every one of those elements. There's a lot going on in the film and it's still able to devote time to Steve's personal journey, his relationship with Natasha, his newfound friendship with Sam Wilson, the affect that Bucky's reappearance has on him, the entire political intrigue and conspiracy involving HYDRA and SHIELD, and (last but not least) the plethora of comic-booky science fiction stuff that really gives this movie its sense of fun in the midst of such dark circumstances.

So it's true that Steve Rogers' latest adventure doesn't quite have the same priorities as, say, Interstellar or Edge of Tomorrow. But honestly? I find that it really doesn't matter anyway. It just feeds into my original point about how genre films should come in all different shapes and sizes.

The fact that I'm able to overlook that and still have it so high up on this list is a testament to the strengths of the movie. It feels like a political thriller, a science fiction movie, and a character study all at the same time. That's something that certainly deserves praise, and more than qualifies Captain America: The Winter Soldier as the second-best sci-fi movie of 2014.

1) Guardians of the Galaxy

Whereas Edge of Tomorrow is a fast-paced and gritty romp, Interstellar is moody and thoughtful, Snowpiercer is dark and disturbed with an avalanche of things to say, and The Winter Soldier is a deeply layered political thriller. . .Guardians of the Galaxy just might provide the strongest proof yet that the sci-fi genre is alive, vibrant, and incredibly diverse.

Much like Star Wars, it's a space opera through and through. Filled to the brim with a wonderful color palette, countless breath-taking space vistas, and a beloved soundtrack straight out of the 1970's, Guardians just flat-out feels different from any other movie released this year, sci-fi or no. But even beyond the film having a personality and identity all on its own (which is really saying something, as the main complaint leveled at the MCU films is how cookie-cutter, generic, and studio-mandated they feel), the absolute strength of this highly-stylized space adventure is the characters.

The mixed group of rag-tag heroes was initially perceived to be a result of Marvel scraping the bottom of the barrel of their comic book characters. . .but that only makes it even more stunning that the virtual unknowns of Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot managed to resonate so strongly with the general audience. It just goes to show how far well-written, fully-realized, relatable characters can take you, regardless of their popularity (or lack thereof) beforehand.

An offshoot of the strong characters was the excellent use of humor to tell a story. While some may look at the film as a mindless action-oriented comedy, every joke actually goes a long way towards fleshing out the characters. Seeing how Guardians of the Galaxy is basically the same type of team-up blockbuster as The Avengers (but without the crucial benefit of previous solo movies, of course), the use of character-based humor and meticulously-designed action set pieces to help build up the heroes, bit by bit, was probably the most effective and best possible course of action to take.

All of this results in a fun adventure story that is ultimately, and surprisingly, emotional. The movie does so much of the heavy lifting in order for us to empathize with these screwed-up, flawed characters. By the time we finally see them become friends, work as a team, and grow into the weirdest family you've ever seen, we're fully invested and fully in love with them.

Every character flaw, every time someone hits a new low, every heroic act, every moment of vulnerability, and every selfless sacrifice just hits us that much harder. By perfectly balancing a comedic (heck, some might even say 'whimsical') tone with moments of weight and dire consequences, the movie manages to never waste a single moment. Every scene is in service of advancing the plot, and the momentum and pacing succeeds because of that.

It's a movie about the underdogs. It's about the losers and outcasts of society having their moment to shine. But mostly, as director James Gunn himself has previously said. . .Guardians of the Galaxy is simply about giving a shit.

I'm sure some will disagree with this film being placed in the highly sought-after number 1 spot, and to be fair it's really not the most well-made movie of 2014. Heck, it might not come in second place or even third in that particular category.

But for all the reasons listed here, I believe it made enough of an impact (and more) in order to live up to its overwhelming hype and become many people's absolute favorite movie of the year. And most importantly, I find that it really was the quintessential science fiction movie of 2014.

So there you have it! Did I leave any obvious or obscure choices out of my top 5 rankings? Do you agree with my assessment, or completely disagree with the entire list? Let me know in the comment section below!