Twice Upon a Yesterday (1998)
Oct 28, 1999The Past Revisited/Romance
Appealing and well told fantasy in which a couple are each individually offered the opportunity to go back in time and change the circumstances that led to their breakup
Mark Strong
It’s All About Love (2003)
Jan 20, 2016Near-Future/Reconciliation Drama
An SF outing from Thomas Vinterberg that proved a flop with audiences. It is never satisfying as an SF film but you cannot deny it is directed with a beautiful and sophisticated cool that draws you inside it
Tristan + Isolde (2006)
Mar 13, 2006Historical Romance
Adaptation of the legendary historical romance was considered a box-office flop but emerges as a better film than one expected it would
Stardust (2007)
Sep 23, 2007Epic Fantasy Adventure
Matthew Vaughn adapts a Neil Gaiman book in this undeniably appealing fantasy that comes with a story of epical sweep that vies between fantastic imagination and broad humour
Sunshine (2007)
Apr 19, 2007Solar Expedition
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland make a big serious SF film about a solar expedition, which works with great scientific rigour until the shows heads off at a tangent and falls apart in the latter third
Babylon A.D. (2008)
Oct 9, 2008Cyberpunk Future
This was critically dismissed - even its director spoke out against it - nevertheless it proves a flawed but not entirely uninteresting French Cyberpunk film as mercenary Vin Diesel is hired to protect miracle girl Melane Thierry
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Jan 1, 2010Sherlock Holmes vs Black Magic
Guy Ritchie's reinvention of Sherlock Holmes seemed a miscalculated disaster in the offing. It doesn't radically reinvent the basics but emerges passably well
Kick-Ass (2010)
Apr 18, 2010Superhero Wannabes
One of several films around the same time about wannabes without powers playing at being superheroes. Matthew Vaughn delivers a film that falls between witty deflation of and a celebration of nerdy fantasy
Green Lantern (2011)
Jun 17, 2011Comic-Book Superhero
This received a lot of bad flak, including from star Ryan Reynolds, but I'm not one of the haters. There is the terrible CGI suit and a miscast Reynolds but it does get a good deal of the comic-book mythos right
John Carter (2012)
Mar 9, 2012Planetary Adventure/Edgar Rice Burroughs Adaptation
While the film bombed, it emerges as a fairly good and faithful, lavishly produced adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ swashbuckling planetary adventure
The Great Martian War: 1913-1917 (2013)
Jun 6, 2019War of the Worlds Mockumentary Retelling
A very clever mockumentary retelling of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds that ingeniously blends existing WWI war footage with CGI to show soldiers fighting off invading Martian tripods
Mindscape (2013)
Mar 2, 2015Therapist Journeys Inside People's Memories
It would be safe to say that without Inception there would be no Mindscape, which involves people entering memories rather than dreams but is similar in many other ways. Where this fails is in having no interest in the sf potential of the idea beyond using it as springboard for a thriller plot
Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)
Feb 21, 2015Spy Film/Comic-Book Adaptation
This rescues the spy film from the silliness of Austin Powers. The film's sly mocking of its Englishness, with Colin Firth going into action as an impeccably mannered gentleman, along with explosive action sequences is irresistible
Approaching the Unknown (2016)
Sep 26, 2016Expedition to Mars
This comes with the clear influence of The Martian, telling a similar but more low-key story of a lone astronaut having problems on the way to Mars. This is less about science ingenuity that his fracturing mental state
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
Dec 2, 2017Spy Film/Comic-Book Adaptation
Kingsman with its parody of gentlemanliness and action movie sensibilities, was the smartest of the modern spy movie parodies. This sequel has gone to the excesses of the Roger Moore Bond films in the space of one film
Shazam! (2019)
Jul 6, 2019Comic-Book Superhero
Adaptation of the superhero comic is played for comedy, making it very different in emphasis to the other films in the DCEU. The boy into man transformation is played up as essentially Big with superpowers - with appealing results
Nocebo (2022)
Jun 2, 2023Mysterious Nanny/Folk Horror
Film that develops a Folk Horror vibe as Eva Green hires a nanny with mysterious healing powers. The horror version of Mary Poppins
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)
Apr 14, 2023Comic-Book Superhero
Shazam! was one of the more enjoyable DCEU superhero offerings, placing a light-hearted spin on the superheroics. This is the sequel
The End We Start From (2023)
May 24, 2024England Devastated by Catastrophic Flooding
Jodie Comer is a new mother who travels through an England that has been devastated by catastrophic flooding. Not dissimilar to The Road but less bleak
Atlas (2024)
Nov 29, 2024War with the Machines
The idea of Jennifer Lopez in a transformer suit kicking robot ass has an outlandishness to it. The surprise is that this is a really good, well written SF film of planetary survival