It’s been an interesting year for the genre of science fiction as it produced one of the biggest grossing movies, as well the best film of the year in the form of Inception.
Things had been a little quiet on the sci-fi front since District 9 stormed onto the big screen in the summer of 2009, a movie that went on to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar earlier this year.
And while this summer was one of remake, sequels and franchises there was one movie that loomed over them all and that was Inception.
Yes Christopher Nolan was back in his first movie since The Dark Knight, which broke $1 billion when it was released back in 2008.
The thriller brought together a great cast as Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tom Hardy, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine all joined forces.
To say that Inception is a great movie would be a little bit of an understatement as the movie stormed the box office on both sides of the Atlantic and has taken in excess $825 million worldwide.
Nolan is a director who is unafraid to use complex narrative and plot as he tests and asks questions of the audience.
Inception is a maze from the off as Nolan adds layer upon layer to the story as the audience takes a trip into a dream world and an exploration of the subconscious.
It really is superb work from Nolan who once again demonstrates that he really is a force to be reckoned with when he gets in the director’s chair - the ending is just superb!
Splice was also a summer release but, sadly, it didn’t have quite the same success as Vincenzo Natali directed with Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley leading the cast.
Much like Inception, Splice was one of those movies that really stood out this summer as it offered something totally different to cinema go-ers.
And while the film does start off well as moral questions are raised over the use of human DNA in genetic engineering.
But sadly it descends into a science experiment gone wrong sort of a movie - something that we have sadly seen too many times before.
The end of 2010 has brought two sci-fi movies in quick success as Skyline, which grabbed some attention at Comic Con, was followed by Monsters.
Masters of the special effects the Strause brothers were back in the director’s chair with Skyline, a visually stunning movie that was made on a relative shoe string.
Braving a lesser known cast the movie follows a group of friends who find themselves trapped in an apartment block as aliens invade.
The plot is a little soap operish at the beginning with affairs and pregnancy going on but once the alien invasion is in full flow that’s when the movie really does start to get good as the special effects come into their own and steal the show.
The movie had been called the District 9 0f 2010 but it didn’t quite hit those dizzy heights - plus I wasn’t a big fan of the ending.
Monsters was released in quick succession and had more luck with the critics as Gareth Edwards made his feature length debut with the movie.
And Tron is currently lighting up cinemas during the festive period as the sequel comes eighteen years after the original, which was released back in 1982.
And the sci-fi projects keep on coming into the new year as Vanishing on 7th Street and Battle: Los Angeles are both on the horizon.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Inception