On January 8, 2011, I posted Top 10 Movies I Want Now.
Now that we are at the end of 2011 and those movies have been released, it is time for you—the highly intelligent, savy, movie goers I know you to be—to decide what you deem the Best 2011 Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie!
If you look back at my list, you’ll see this:
- Cowboys & Aliens – 44%
- Super 8 – 82%
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon – 35%
- Green Lantern – 27%
- X-Men: First Class – 87%
- Thor – 77%
- Captain America – 79%
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides – 34%
- Sucker Punch – 23%
- Paul – 71%
The likability review percentages next to the movies are taken from RottenTomatoes.com.
First, it is interesting to look at back at the movies I was most excited about after seeing their trailers—to know now that I was wrong on many of them. Cowboys & Aliens was not good on any standard I have. Green Lantern was an over-CGI’ed mess lacking story. And Transformers, while entertaining, didn’t possess the dark edge I expected it to have.
That said, I was right about Super 8. That movie is easily my favorite of the year. Great story in the Spielbergian vein. Great acting, made all the more difficult because the movie was driven by a group of six kids. Great cinematography and special effects. And one of the most humanizing scenes of an alien I’ve ever seen. Absolutely fantastic and it should have been my #1 instead of #2.
X-Men: First Class was a far better film than I—or anyone else, for that matter—expected. And Thor had heart while being entertaining and gorgeous to watch.
There were other movies that were not in my list, some that might have made your lists. Therefore, I have set the poll up below to accept other submissions. I would love to hear what you think is the best science fiction / fantasy movie of 2011—and why!
I’ve seen 6 of the movies, enjoying all that I watched (Sucker Punch, Cap’n America, Thor, X-Men, Green Lantern, Super 8), and just saw Super 8 tonight. It was my favorite of the group, partially because of the actors, partially because of the realism, partially because it left a lot to my imagination.
I would be hard pressed to rank the remaining movies, each having aspects I liked.
Thor was my favorite of the year. I really enjoyed X-men, Super 8, Paul, Captain America, and yes, even Sucker Punch to a slightly lesser extent. Green Lantern was just okay, and I wish I could get my time back from Pirates and Transformers. Knowing the Thor comics well from my childhood, I felt they did an excellent job of portraying the most important aspects of the story, particularly in Asgard: The Warriors Three, Sif, Odin and the other characters were spot on, as was the mythology behind it all. Overall it was a FUN movie-going experience with a good blend of action, plot, humor, romance, etc. Also, while I am a fanboy, so to speak, my wife is not, and she really enjoyed Thor as well, along with Super 8, X-men and Paul (the others she didn’t really care for). I don’t understand why it was panned by so many critics.
How about none of those? Did you see The Whisperer in Darkness, the latest adaptation of HPL by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society? It is low budget, yes, but it embraces its 1930s B-movie feel and ended up being a much better film than those listed.
how about Attack the Block? what super 8 should have been. great movie
From the looks of if, the poll results seem to be less “Best Move” to “Move I’ve seen and therefore it’s good.”
I also wonder about the inclusion of Melancholia. Sure, the background is the end of the world, but it’s not really a sci-fi movie.