Matt Shea
RubySoho
Morgan Bell
Cibbuano
David O'Connell
Mountain Fog
The Return of Smart Sci-Fi
September 25th 2009 05:57
Sam Rockwell stars in Duncan Jones' brainy sci-fi effort, "Moon."
by Matt Shea
There’s no questioning the recent sickness of cinematic sci-fi. Once a burgeoning genre full of big ideas and clever allegory, science fiction films in the modern age have become afflicted with a depressing disease, ideological content being sacrificed at the alter of self serving special effects.
The low point has perhaps come in the last decade. Looking at AllMovie’s list of the top 50 sci-fi films, only The Matrix was produced in the last ten years, and only five – “The Matrix,” “Dark City,” “Ghost in the Shell,” “12 Monkeys” and “Terminator 2” – were produced in the last twenty years. It’s demoralising stuff.
Recent films that pass for science fiction have invariably been awful. You have the franchise slayers of “Terminator Salvation” and “Alien vs. Predator” (it killed two), or the hasty video game regurgitations of “Doom” and the “Resident Evil” series. That’s to say nothing of a series of botched remakes, including the unintentionally hilarious “The Day the Earth Stood Still” as well as the narratively hollow ‘re-imagining’ of “Planet of the Apes": as if it’s not enough for the studios make bad original sci-fi films, they now feel the need to go back and mess with the well-regarded originals.
Through it all, sci-fi fans have remained remarkably faithful to their chosen genre. Each month they trundle off to the local cinema looking for the latest piece of dork meat, and usually come away disappointed. Part of the problem is of course the budget of a modern film. And sci-fi is expensive, meaning it remains the domain of the cashed-up studios less interested in the compelling stories, subtext or metaphor, and more concerned with slick special effects and music video dynamics.
It’s a far cry from the late 60s, 70s and 80s, cinema’s golden age of sci-fi. “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Solyaris,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” the “Star Wars” trilogy, “Stalker,” “Alien,” “Aliens,” “The Thing,” “Blade Runner,” “The Fly,” “The Road Warrior” and “The Terminator” all emerged during this rich era. And all were backed by significant studio or – in the case of the Soviet era “Solyaris” and “Stalker” – government money. Depth in material seemed to be encouraged, with a number of films crossbreeding sci-fi with rousing action.
And it’s that spirit that seems to have recently been rediscovered. 2009 is now turning into a bumper year for sci-fi films - despite the release of the hollow wreck that is “Terminator Salvation.”
First there was JJ Abraham’s solid recreation of a tried and true universe with “Star Trek.” An action film first and foremost, “Star Trek” still managed to capture the social and political shadings of a true Starship Enterprise experience. Even more impressive was the recent “District 9” – it too threw around the action, but also used a rock solid narrative to transmit a potent allegory of the state of refugees in South Africa.
Sharlto Copley in "District 9"
Things don’t seem to be slowing down in the later part of the year either. The verdict is of course still out on “Avatar,” but there’s plenty of meaty science fiction in the meantime.
“Surrogates” has just hit theatres, its concerns regarding the personal isolation of modern society looking to be potent grist for fans of the genre, while next month sees the Australian release of “Moon.” Co written and directed by Duncan Jones (better known as Mr Zowie Bowie!) and produced on just a $5 million budget, “Moon” is being touted as a true return to the smart sci-fi classics, its tale of a lone moon miner wrestling with his own identity being positively Tarkovskian.
So perhaps 2009 will be remembered as the year cinematic science fiction made its comeback. In any case, a genre that a year ago was all but dead and buried is showing some remarkable signs of life.
Check out the trailer for "Moon" below:
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