10 Sci-Fi Movies That Aren’t As Bad As Everyone Says
Giant monsters versus alcoholism! Yodelling-averse aliens! Slashers set on the sun! Gunkata!
Sci-fi movies tend to have an unreasonably hard time with critics. Often times reviewers who have a dislike for the genre are quick to find an excuse to dismiss its output. Not only this, but frequently the ambitious world building required by a lot of sci-fi means it's easy to fall between the twin pillars of "it's under-explained, I didn't get it", and "it's over-explained, bogged down by exposition."
Not only are these difficult pitfalls for sci-fi filmmakers to avoid, there's also the problem of so-called "originality" within the genre. After all, a random a rom com needs more than two protagonist who initially hate and eventually love each other in order to garner comparisons to When Harry Met Sally. But almost any spaceship set horror, from the supernatural chiller Event Horizon to the twisty psychological thriller Pandorum, will be compared in almost every review to Ridley Scott's iconic Alien.
What do they have in common with that 1979 film?
Well, you know... They're set on spaceships.
As a result of these overzealous critiques, a lot of stellar sci-fis fall by the wayside, as seen in this rundown of the sci-fi flicks which got a bad rep from critics for no good reason.
10. FAQ About Time Travel
Released in 2009, Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel was an underrated piece of British sci-fi comedy which boasted the low stakes charm of the country's iconic small screen series Red Dwarf. Capitalising on the success of Edgar Wright's buddy comedy/genre movie mash ups, this film was mauled by critics who compared it to the same year's disastrous James Corden vehicle Lesbian Vampire Killers.
However, unlike that cringeworthy horror comedy, this goofy sci-fi comedy didn’t deserve the outsized hate it got upon release.
Starring the always-underrated Chris O'Dowd as the nominal leader of three dim-witted slackers who accidentally uncover a time portal in the gent's jacks of their local pub, this warm and silly comedy moves at a clip and takes some witty swipes at sci-fi cliches and conventions.
It's loose and silly, but the presence of underrated comedic star/Scary Movie heroine Anna Faris elevates this film. Meanwhile the cast's charming chemistry ensures that the film's shaggy dog plotting and gleefully anarchic script never become tiresome despite some knotty timeline tripping in its brief runtime.