The Sorry State of Science Fiction.

Science fiction is, without a doubt, my favourite genre, and yes, I do consider Star Wars to be sci-fi. From Alien to Blade Runner, Pitch Black to Dredd and a whole lot in between, I can’t get enough.

As time passes we see less and less of truly great science fiction films. In the last 6 years we’ve got a handful of sci-fi blockbusters, few of which have been genuinely good films. To name a few of the good ones, Looper, Attack the Block, Rise and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Robot and Frank, Pacific Rim and Snowpiercer. But mostly we get one of two films. There’s the overblown “smart” movies like Interstellar and Arrival, which, while not bad, rely on twists and concepts that either fall flat or don’t make sense.

The most recent example of this comes from Arrival. On a whole it was alright but the end was disappointing. Without spoiling anything, events occur that are incredibly far fetched, even for a sci-fi film, and the characters make choices that serve only to confuse and aggravate. The film died in it’s final act, and it showed what’s happening to the genre.

The other type of film we get is the sci-fi in which nothing really happens. Most notably the new Star Wars films, one of which was all set up and no payoff and the other was all payoff and no setup. They have these grand schemes and a whole universe in which to build, let alone the guaranteed money that a Star Wars film will make, and yet nothing new happened in either of them, at least not on a large scale.

The last truly great science fiction film I saw was 2009’s District 9, directed by Neill Blomkamp. It had it all. Action, characters, a concept that was actually utilised within the film and a setting that wasn’t just a backdrop. Since then there have been too few solid films in the genre or, at the very least, too few films that are good as a complete work, let alone original ideas.

There have been 13 major reboots, reimaginings or sequels that no one asked for, since 2010. The Ninja Turtles, Spiderman, Terminator, Robocop and Total Recall all came back in abysmal form, we got a prequel to 1982’s The Thing, as sequel to Independence Day, 20 years after its release, a Planet of the Apes Prequel and a new Star Wars franchise, most of which will have or already have had, sequels. It’s not like there’s a lack of science fiction, just a lack of quality.

In 2017 alone we’ll see Alien Covenant, Bladerunner 2049, Power Rangers, another Star Wars and a third Apes film, not to mention the tidal wave of superhero films, at least a third of which will be disappointing. Some of these movies I’m looking forward, Alien, Logan and War for the Planet of the Apes topping my list of 2017 releases in general, and lot of them I probably won’t see. Not because they’re necessarily bad but because if I’m going to watch a movie, I don’t want to come away disappointed.

Science fiction isn’t going anywhere but as long as it continues along the trend of doing the bare minimum to entertain, being overly long with not a lot of content or focusing on what came before (I’m talking about Star Wars), I won’t be watching a lot of it. I want some more Fury Roads, Star Trek Beyonds or Martians. While none of these are wholly original, they easily the best science fiction to come out in the past few years and are an example to be followed.

Fury Road took what came before and discarded almost all of it, instead standing alone, a film more isolated than the characters within it. Star Trek picked up where JJ Abrams left off and rocketed into a movie that was far more enjoyable than what came before, simply because it embraced the lunacy of is world and the people within it. The Martian, my personal pick of 2015, showed that Ridley Scott wasn’t completely washed out, as well as being an excellent work of science fiction with strong roots in reality.

Until Hollywood starts focusing on making good sci-fi instead of cash-ins, I’ll more than likely continue to be disappointed. But, in the event that something good comes along, something that is original, if not in source then in execution, I’ll be there, day 1, and I’ll probably have a good time.