Sci Fi

Anna and Ryan have found true love, and it's proven by a controversial new technology. There's just one problem, as Anna still isn't sure. Then she takes a position at a love testing institute and meets Amir.

Adrift in their broken-down space shuttle with little hope of rescue, two astronauts argue over whether they're better off spending their remaining days as friends or something more.

Despite a high-class cast, this fantasy-battle movie -- based on a video game series -- is disorienting, makes very little sense, and, worst of all, is a terrible, humorless bore.

Pratt and Lawrence are wonderful and share decent chemistry, and Sheen adds wit, but, there's no mistaking the disturbing nature of this movie's premise.

This is the Star Wars story you were looking for but may not have even known it.

This deeply thoughtful, profoundly compassionate sci-fi movie beautifully mixes realism with a sense of wonder.

Marvel's 14th Cinematic Universe movie has all the usual action and explosions, but it also has a different type of main character -- one who's magical and appealingly flawed but willing to change.

Surprisingly unfunny and dull, this action figure-based superhero adventure is a waste of talented supporting actors Bello and Andy Garcia (who plays Max's dad's former business partner).

Despite a great cast and similarities to Ex Machina, this sci-fi movie doesn't really have much to say outside of a vague cautionary message.

This animated adventure's amazing visuals are stunning, but the incoherent plot, poor writing, and dull action will leave you snoring.

Despite the talented cast and Robbie's stand-out performance as Harley Quinn, this antihero story is a disappointment.

The 13th overall movie in the Star Trek franchise turns out to be good luck for everyone.

The 1984 original—a near-perfect cocktail of brash irreverence, scares, and big laughs—is a tough act to follow, but this reboot comes decently close.

This aggravating, confusing zombie thriller now has the dishonor of being arguably the worst movie ever made based on a Stephen King novel.

When The Purge movies started, they played vaguely with psychological ideas; this time around, the themes have turned political, but irritatingly simplistic.

This mediocre alien-invasion sequel isn't going to wow anyone who's seen the original, which is a true summer popcorn-flick, with quotable lines and memorable action scenes.

This adventure has the requisite gang's-all-here clash and bang of a Marvel superhero movie that's sure to enthrall franchise fans, but there's more to it: It has depth.

With its death-defying action sequences, charismatic additional superheroes, and emotional character development, this Captain America threequel is both intense and entertaining.

This movie is fun and will no doubt appeal to audiences familiar with the PlayStation video game franchise it's based on.

Brutally violent sci-fi thriller doesn't make much sense.

With charismatic performances and epic battle scenes, this unrelentingly serious start to a new DC Universe franchise is intriguing but also humorless and overdone.

If you thought this film might just be a smidge more violent than your standard Avengers or X-Men movie, know this: It's NOT for middle schoolers.

This sci-fi comedy comes from the guys behind the popular Rooster Teeth YouTube channel, and while it's far from brilliant, it shows an infectious enthusiasm for cheesy sci-fi films.

Fans of Yancey's gripping sci-fi thriller will wonder how his page-turning action and riveting, charming characters got transformed into this flat, humorless, and disappointing movie.

Star Wars fans can rest easy; director J. J. Abrams (Star Trek) clearly knows how to stay faithful to sci-fi classics.

At first, the movie focuses on the strange, tender, sometimes amusing friendship between the two leads, and it works well, but it goes off in too many directions, with needless action and padding.

Thanks to director Francis Lawrence and, above all, star Jennifer Lawrence, this final film is a fitting tribute to Suzanne Collins' unforgettable heroine.

This movie is every bit as meandering and bizarre as is the TV series, which should please fans who like its creative animation and quirky characters.

This horror-comedy starts off with a good idea -- i. e. monsters learning to work together -- but doesn't take it very far.

"Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! " fully embraces its so-bad-it's-good status as a camp sensation and wastes no time getting to the action.

Damon's charm, humor, and gravitas make this smart, action-packed adaptation an all-around perfect film for families with curious, science-loving teens and older tweens.

This postapocalyptic drama does away with mutated monsters, evil power mongers, chases, explosions, and grisly effects and simply, effectively focuses on the deeds and emotions of three people.

The movie's excessive, reckless violence rolls right over most of the comedy, but the two leads are so charming together that they save the day.

Longtime fans of the Power Rangers will get a real kick out of this movie.

Josh Trank, who wrote and directed the clever Chronicle, has failed in his mission to jumpstart the Fantastic Four.

"Pixels" may appeal to fans of Sandler, James, and '80s video games: It has a novel premise, and the action sequences can be entertaining.

The Marvel Universe's story about a tiny but fierce hero is also its funniest.

Former music video/commercial director Tarsem Singh (The Cell, Immortals) is generally known for making movies that are visually impressive and narratively pathetic, and this movie is no exception.

The fifth movie in the series does well by ignoring the third and fourth installments, but after starting with a good idea, it devolves into a rather typical, monotonous shoot-and-smash fest.

This may not meet the expectations set by Steven Spielberg's original, but it does surpass the underwhelming sequels that came before.

Director Brad Bird delivers spectacular visuals and thrilling action sequences.

"Cowboys vs. Dinosaurs" continues the SyFy Channel's trend of seeing how far the viewing public is willing to go to suspend its disbelief in the name of mindless entertainment.

The sheer, limitless invention behind this movie's exhilarating, preposterous chase scenes highlights action filmmaking at its finest.

Blessed with a star-studded cast, this sequel makes sure that each of the bold-faced names gets his or her moment in the sun, resulting in a film that's sure to satisfy Marvel fanatics.

Author (The Beach) and screenwriter (28 Days Later, Sunshine, Never Let Me Go, Dredd) Alex Garland makes his directorial debut with this film; not surprisingly, it's an atmospheric sci-fi movie.

Plenty of creativity and artistry were lavished on "Home"'s production, and the animation is flat-out beautiful.

Spoofing The Walking Dead, Warm Bodies, and (sort of) Zombieland, "The Walking Deceased" is about as witless as they come.

The creators try their best to clarify what it is a very complicated premise.

The movie fails to go very deep, and it ignores several interesting time-travel possibilities, but it's worth seeing overall.

Director Brian A. Miller and star Bruce Willis previously gave us the terrible The Prince, and now they're back with this equally terrible entry.

Writer-director Sam Esmail's feature debut is definitely ambitious: non-linear, overly talky, and narrowly focused on two characters, both of whom are familiar but not-quite-A-list actors.

Writer/director Jake Paltrow (Gwyneth's brother) comes up with an intriguing setting for "Young Ones": a futuristic farmland in which water has become the top commodity.

This action-packed movie serves as a pilot for the Disney series Star Wars Rebels and introduces an entirely new team of self-deprecating heroes to appreciative fans.

Directed by legendary stuntman Vic Armstrong, "Left Behind" is a bigger-budget but subpar reboot of the faith-based indie hit from 2000, itself based on a series of best-selling novels.

Cute animation, likable characters (Paco the penguin is particularly humorous and original), and funny situations should keep kids engaged.

It's not entirely clear why the Wachowski sisters, the CGI geniuses behind the Matrix trilogy, didn't make this zany family film into an animated feature.

"Minutemen" is rife with stereotypes.

While "Snowglobe" probably won't become an instant holiday classic, the magic-infused tale has a charm that will appeal to some viewers' sensitive, sentimental sides.

"The Last Day of Summer" combines tween-friendly entertainment with the kind of positive messages kids need as they embark on the tumultuous years of middle school.

While the movie may seem kind of hokey—and even frightening—to some adults, elementary school kids are likely to be enchanted by its exciting plot and effects.

Working from a screenplay he co-wrote (based on P. D. James' novel), director Alfonso Cuarón paints a gritty, paranoid, and occasionally hopeful picture.

The story is fairly predictable and the humor slapstick, so older kids will probably lose interest along the way.

Moody, impressionistic, and bleak, "The Return" explores supernatural links between two women who never knew each other.

Christopher Nolan's movie is a smart, intriguing tale of deceit and obsession.

Sharp-angled and dark-themed, this French film combines science fiction, film noir, and motion-capture animation.

Very dark and moody, "Pulse" imagines a dire near future for electronic communications.

Ridiculous at every level, "A Sound of Thunder" has a weak premise, an absurd plot, and is riddled with clichés.

A hectic scary movie about monsters in a dark place, "The Cave" runs out of narrative in about 12 minutes. It is essentially a slasher movie with "scientifically" explained monsters.

The action bits are predictably well-choreographed and boisterous, but also distracting (yes, even in an action movie, too much of a good thing is still too much).

This unevenly paced, disjointed movie lacks emotional focus, but, then again, maybe that's beside the point for an action superhero movie.

Gangbusters effects and terrific camerawork propel Steven Spielberg's film well into its last act, when it runs out of energy and ideas.

Anakin becomes Darth Vader in violent, dramatic sequel.

Perhaps this film's most provocative innovation is the POV (point of view) Gun, with which the shooter can instantly impose his perspective on a target.

Just like its endearing hero Rodney, this movie is assembled from hand-me-down parts (like its classic underdog story), but it has tons of heart.

"The Jacket" is a smart thriller, with above-average heft and imagination in the story, the structure, and especially in the striking visuals.

Stupid horror movie based on an Atari game.

The plot of "White Noise" is not the point -- it's all about the thrill ride, but unfortunately it's just not that thrilling.

"The Forgotten" does a pretty good job of creating the atmosphere early on, keeping us as unbalanced and unsure of what to believe as Telly is.

The story is an unabashed and un-ironic tribute to the days of cliff-hanger serials.

This sequel is nothing more than another B-movie with some suspense, a few entertaining lines, and a ridiculous plot.

Corbett makes for an attractive and appealing hero and the kids have a nice natural chemistry together.

On some levels, the movie works: There are lots of good special effects, imaginative settings, the requisite mayhem, destruction, and suspense.

"The Chronicles of Riddick" almost makes it as a brainless popcorn summer explosion movie.

This is a dazzling story of love, loss, adventure, courage, heartbreak, tough choices, and tender feelings.

Co-writer and director Roland Emmerich gave us an entertaining disaster movie with Independence Day; this one has some of the same ingredients, but they don't mix as well.

This fabulously imaginative and deliciously loopy romance is the sweetest movie yet from the magnificently twisty mind of writer Charlie Kaufman.

This movie is pretentious. The title comes from the idea, here attributed to "chaos theory," that the flap of a butterfly's wing can produce a typhoon half a world away.

We can stand it when a thriller requires some suspension of disbelief, but the boredom of this would-be thriller is unforgivable. The movie just sags, even in the action scenes.

Weakly entertaining Middle Ages fantasy.

Good Boy is a not-so-good movie, but it's not so bad, either. It's a watered-down canine version of ET.

This film takes the graphic novel as a start, drains it of its quirky, prim Victorian tone, turns the characters more Hollywood, and leaves the audience on their own to find something to like.

This sequel is bigger, badder, and better than the first film, bringing back the excellent special effects, attractive stars, and fun action sequences, and the perfect popcorn-movie tone.

Chow Yun-Fat, as ever, has all the presence it takes to make the screen come alive.

"The Core" is a big, dumb, explosion movie. That's not necessarily a bad thing -- often big, dumb, explosion movies are fun to watch and do very well at the box office.

Friends on a camping trip discover that the town they're vacationing in is being plagued in an unusual fashion by parasitic aliens from outer space.

Some tasty bait for fans of The Matrix, this collection broadens the movie trilogy's world, but not as much as they could. In fact, only two of the entries really flesh out the overall story.

This installment of the Star Trek franchise is not a bad film, but is one that will most likely only leave the ever-devoted Trekkies as the only completely-satisfied customers.

This intense, unsettling film draws heavily from George Orwell's classic, 1984.

This animated sci-fi adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story is a dazzling vision, with masted schooners sailing past stars and planets.

It is great fun to see Pacino do farce and "Simone" has some deliciously sharp satire.

"Signs" is excellent but may be too intense for younger or more sensitive kids.

"Eight Legged Freaks" is essentially a cheesy 1950's sci-fi drive-in movie with un-cheesy special effects. There's no sense of irony and not much of a sense of humor.

A cute story, endearing characters, a sensational soundtrack of Elvis classics, and glorious hand-painted animation make this Disney film a winner.

The movie is visually stunning, with brilliantly staged action sequences and vividly realized characters. As with Blade Runner, also based on a story by Philip K.

This film improves over its predecessor in almost every way.

Maguire is just right as Peter, the supporting cast is great, and the script is excellent, striking just the right note of respect and affection for the source material.

This special effects action comedy is fun for kids and fairly painless for adults. More important, it is a rare film directed at kids from 4th-8th grade, that most-neglected of movie audiences.

Even an outstanding cast, some good special effects, and an intriguing idea from a first-rate writer can't save this sci-fi thriller from a poor script and unimaginative direction.

"Vanilla Sky" has a lot of surface appeal, but at its core it is as vacant as the story's main character. It tries to be a sort of Sixth Sense with sex.

Terrific acting by Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges.

This movie was embraced as a genuinely oddball "cult" item almost instantly upon its unsuccessful theatrical release.

The movie's effects work best when the "actors" are moving, because their movements are based on that oldest of animation techniques, rotoscoping.

Cross 2001 with E. T.

"Evolution" never really takes off. There are some good moments, though, and moments of inspired silliness, like Duchovney and Jones singing "Play That Funky Music White Boy.

Dude, Where's My Car is a sloppy, unappealing comedy that falls somewhere between Cheech & Chong and Bill & Ted.

The big surprise ending of "Unbreakable" is what a disappointment it is.

The effortless star quality of these actors, so clearly still in their prime, is undimmed.

Launching a multi-film franchise, this is perhaps one of the best super-hero comic book adaptation, in part because it doesn't shy away from the big issues the comic explored, however clumsily.

Made due to the ceaseless efforts of its star, John Travolta, "Battlefield Earth" could be used as an exam for film school students on what not to do.

This movie makes Close Encounters of the Third Kind seem like rocket science -- it even makes The Day the Earth Stood Still look like rocket science -- but the pictures are pretty.