Best Sci-Fi Movies of the 21st Century

The 21st Century was the focus of so  much 20th century Science Fiction. From Blade Runner to Robocop, it was visions of the 2000s that flourished in the scifi that was so popular at the end of the previous century. We're there, so now what do we do?

Luckily, filmmakers have been able to create new, exciting visions of the future, and in the most interesting cases, of our present and our past, with the advantage of an amazing new array of techniques. The advances in computer generated graphics has allowed more visually dazzling films than ever before, and high-tech audio processing and editing has allowed films to become more immersive, expansive, and expensive. What would never have been possible in the 1990s has become commonplace, and what would never have even been considered necessary in decades passed has become such a regular part of the filmmaking process, there's a phrase for it – "we;'ll fix it in post."

The advances in graphics even made it possible for companies such as Pixar and DreamWorks to release computer animated feature films, changing the animation landscape so thoroughly that traditional animation stands out just as much as computer animation had prior to 1990.

1999 had been a banner year for science fiction film, setting up for a wave of new movies. The Matrix, and Being John Malkovich had shown that smart, and weird, science fiction could draw a significant audience, and the return of the Star Wars franchise after fifteen years showed that even classics still had legs! In 2000, the stage was perfectly set for an explosion in new science fiction films, and for new science fiction filmmakers to come to the fore. Michel Gondry, Christopher Nolan, The Washowski brothers, J.J. Abrams, and hold-overs like Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott, would create science fiction films that took exceptional storytelling and applied impressive graphic and art design to create unfathomable new worlds.

Many of the most popular films of all-time were released after the year 2000, including a vast majority of those that have made more than a billion dollars in total revenue. The films of the 21st century have been both bigger brighter and badder, but also thoughtful and intelligent.