The All-For-Noughts: Films of the Decade

SF&F movies had a bit of a mixed bag in the 2000s, with the emergence of CG-drenched giga-blockbusters that eschewed intelligence and logical coherence in favour of massive explosions. Whilst some of these films remained nonetheless entertaining on a superficial level (Star Trek XI, Transformers), rather more just degenerated into somewhat befuddled messes (Terminator Salvation, Transformers II).


This coincided with the recurrence of an odd phenomenon where a single, decent SF or fantasy flick would be successful and followed by two increasingly lame sequels which threw out the very things that made the first film great (usually good pacing and a running time not measured in interglacial epochs) in favour of over-indulgence, lack of writing discipline and general crappiness. Here's hoping that the already-planned Avatar franchise can learn a lesson from the bloated Star Wars (although the first film in that case was more 'crushingly mediocre'), Matrix and Pirates of the Caribbean trilogies (as well as the Chronicles of Riddick, although that seems to have stalled after just one disappointing sequel).

Elsewhere, things were healthier. Pixar delivered one superb animated movie after another, whilst British director Christopher Nolan revitalised the Batman franchise and gave us several startlingly good original movies as well, namely Memento and Insomnia, as well as his superb adaptation of Christopher Priest's The Prestige. Original, intelligent SF&F cinema was also present in the form of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (which I haven't actually watched all the way through yet, hence its non-appearance on the main list below), Donnie Darko, Moon and a number of foreign-language films, such as Let the Right One In and Pan's Labyrinth. Danny Boyle gave us the splendid 28 Days Later and Sunshine (as well as the non-genre Slumdog Millionaire), the former of which sort-of inspired the excellent horror spoof Shaun of the Dead (whose makers went on to make the superior but non-genre Hot Fuzz). SF-related comedies were also around this decade, with the amusing Galaxy Quest (technically released right at the end of 1999 but on general release in the 2000s) and the Star Wars-riffing Fanboys being quite entertaining.

Of course, the 2000s were dominated by superhero movies, ranging from the very good (X-Men 2) through the middling (Batman Begins, Spiderman 2, Iron Man) to the downright godawful (Elektra, Ghost Rider). Unfortunately, as the decade closes there is no sign of the rush to adapt comic books to the screen abating in favour of more original properties. Another trend this decade was for cinema to employ special effects to bring both vast fantastical and historical armies to the screen, through the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Narnia movies, the extremely dull Eragon and several huge historical epics, namely Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, Troy and the remarkably bad Alexander. Cinema's experience with fantasy this decade proved rather mixed, with Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter's massive box office presence not being replicated elsewhere, with The Golden Compass and the second Narnia movie relying on foreign sales for much of their profit.


The All-For-Noughts SF&F Movie of the Decade


After much thought, this choice goes to The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, the opening movie in Peter Jackson's hugely successful three-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel. Jackson successfully captures much of the spirit of Tolkien's book with a perfectly-cast movie that moves with a relentless pace. Whilst The Two Towers and The Return of the King were both still accomplished adaptations, significant problems crept into their scripts that become more obvious on later rewatches (some solved but others exasperated by the extended editions), whilst the first movie in the sequence remains a strong, compelling and indeed visionary film.


Other Major Movies of the Noughts


Koushun Takami's powerful novel - a hyped-up Lord of the Flies with added grenades and machine guns - would seem essentially filmic, but the potential for the film adaptation missing the point and turning into just a violent splatterfest was quite high. Luckily, director Kinji Fukasaku seemed to 'get' the novel of Battle Royale and captured its spirit splendidly in his compelling, brilliantly-acted and quite shockingly violent movie released in 2000. Occasionally it is rumoured that there will be an American remake, but thankfully the notion seems to pass.


Also debuting in 2000 was Pitch Black, an accomplished, small-scale SF thriller about a bunch of interstellar passengers crashing on a remote planet. Vin Diesel plays the ambiguous protagonist Riddick to growling perfection whilst the threat of the nocturnal creatures who only come out during the eclipse is developed through a taut pace and some astonishing visuals. The overblown and rather silly sequel, The Chronicles of Riddick, is not without merit (its visual design is impressive, at least) but's intriguingly the tie-in computer games (Escape from Butcher Bay and Assault on Dark Athena, both featuring Diesel's voice work) which develop Riddick's character and story impressively.


If you want to go see a film that leaves you scraping your brain off the ceiling in confused bewilderment, David Lynch is your man. Mulholland Drive, which nearly won the top spot, is an intellectual and emotional puzzle box that you have to interpret, deconstruct and build back up to work out what the heck it was that you just saw. Intense, visually impressive and features, with Naomi Watts' character(s), a blistering barnstorming performance that she has never quite equalled since.


At the other end of the entertainment spectrum lies Bryan Singer's X-Men 2 (which apparently has the horrific title X-Men United in the USA, which thankfully we didn't get landed with here). Proving that in the first movie he was just clearing his throat, here he delivers high-octane thrills as well as a strong central relationship between Ian McKellen's Magneto and Patrick Stewart's Professor X, whilst Hugh Jackman kicks quite a lot of ass whilst Brian Cox does some more of his brilliant scenery-devouring villain schtick (see also his magnificent bad guy turn in Troy). One of the better comic book movies of the decade, although it arguably never quite replicates the balletic genius of the opening one-mutant assault on the White House.


Zombies were big in the 2000s, but Spaced's Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright were on hand to see them off with cricket bats and Batman vinyl soundtracks. Punctuated by moments of extreme gore and ultraviolence, Shaun of the Dead is simply a very funny take on the cliches of the genre with a bit of real emotion to it as well. The same team reunited three years later for Hot Fuzz, which may be non-genre but is so fantastic it's going to get a mention anyway (along with Timothy Dalton's quite mind-bogglingly evil turn as the villain). Their third film is apparently in the planning for a 2011 or 2012 release.


Sticking with the funny, Trey Parker and Matt Stone gave the US a new theme tune in 2004 with Team America: World Police, a seemingly never-ending mickey-take of everyone and everything in sight. People on the left and the right of the political spectrum alike were torn apart (in Michael Moore's case, literally) as the Thunderbirds-inspired 'Team America' set out to stop the terrorists (allied to North Korea!) from blowing up the Western world. Quite remarkably entertaining.


Returning to the serious side of things, 2006 gave us Children of Men, Alfonso Cuaron's adaptation of the PD James novel. Set in a future where no children have been born for years and Britain is being ripped apart by civil strife, Clive Owen is superb as the man who is tasked with protecting the first pregnant woman in decades. A powerful, intense movie with some of the most intense action and combat sequences since Saving Private Ryan, with sterling support from Michael Caine and Chiwetel Ejiofor.


The same year gave us Christopher Nolan's take on Christopher Priest's The Prestige. The movie is slightly less powerful than the novel, dropping as it does the books' remarkable framing structure and haunting ending, but it is certainly more focused as a result. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are on top form, as is Michael Caine in a supporting role (Caine definitely had a career renaissance this decade) and Nolan's direction is impressive.


Another very close candidate for film of the decade was Matthew Vaughn's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. Almost flawlessly entertaining, well-acted, with a light and genuinely witty touch that makes it the modern answer to The Princess Bride, and every bit as good. Especially notable for Robert De Niro's turn as a ruthless pirate captain yearning to come out of the closet.


Danny Boyle's underrated Sunshine is one of the most visually impressive SF movies since Blade Runner. Sunshine's premise is a bit dubious, but the astonishing visuals of the mission to the Sun, a fantastic soundtrack (courtesy of a collaboration between British dance band Underworld and composer John Murphy) and some remarkable performances by the likes of Cillian Murphy and Michelle Yeoh combine to make this a great film. The 'twist' in the final act was probably a big mistake though.


Rounding off the decade, Zack Snyder's take on Watchmen was a solid adaptation, although in retrospect perhaps a little too respectful to the movie (although the new ending actually makes more sense than the comic book's), and Ozymandias is miscast. Outside of that, it packs most of the story of the graphic novel successfully into two hours with some striking visuals and a great soundtrack (the use of Cohen's 'Hallelujah' aside). District 9 was also very good and Avatar was solid, but since I only reviewed them recently I won't mention them again here.


Brief Mentions

Other films of interest released in the 2000s: Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Bubba Ho-Tep, Frequency, AI, From Hell, Monsters Inc., Spirited Away, 28 Days Later, Minority Report, Equilibrium, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Hellboy, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Batman Begins, Serenity, War of the Worlds, Curse of the Golden Flower, Pan's Labyrinth, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, 300, The Simpsons Movie, Transformers, Cloverfield, The Dark Knight, Hellboy II, Avatar, The Incredibles and the splendid ultra-low budget effort The Gamers II: Dorkness Rising.

Worst SF&F movie of the 2000s: I want to say Battlefield Earth, but I can't in good conscience as I haven't seen it. So I'll plump for Dungeons and Dragons II: Wrath of the Dragon God, which me and my friends had to physically endure for an hour and a half and only got to the end of by refusing to admit defeat and plighing ourselves with beer. That it managed to be comprehensively worse than the original movie is an astonishing feat, one that I thought no film could achieve, thus this managed it, which is nothing short of astonishing.

Most Disappointing Movies of the Decade: This has to be the treble going to George Lucas for Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, none of which lived up to their forebears or achieved their potential.

The All-For-Noughts: Books of the Decade

Overall, the 2000s was a relatively healthy time for the SF&F novel field. Several potentially classic works were published, and overall there was a gradual widening of the field.

Harry Potter was, in terms of sales and visibility, the biggest phenomenon of the decade, with the fourth through seventh books being published this decade to great success and some critical acclaim, along with six successful movie adaptations of the books. The YA field was boosted by this and a string of other successful books, such as Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy, and became an important part of the SF&F field. Along with the continued rise of urban fantasy, this saw a slight reduction in the traditional epic fantasy field, with a notable lack of successful 'old-school'-style fantasy sagas. Instead, the epic fantasy tag was substituted by some critics for 'secondary world', to incorporate works that sat awkwardly with the epic description such as China Mieville's Bas-Lag books or Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora. Elsewhere more overt epic fantasy was being subverted, in major or minor ways, by the likes of Erikson, Bakker and Abercrombie.

For the ongoing series, this was also the decade when The Wheel of Time lost the plot, before eventually somewhat regaining it in the middle of the decade, sadly only shortly before Robert Jordan sadly passed away. However, the series ended the decade on a high with Brandon Sanderson restoring a lot of the acclaim the series hasn't seen in almost a decade and a half. George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire started the decade on an immense high, with the release of A Storm of Swords in 2000 winning immense plaudits, but substantial delays saw a more muted response for A Feast for Crows in 2005 and a growing mixed reaction to the further delays on A Dance with Dragons. Terry Brooks, somewhat unexpectedly, garnered some increased critical acclaim for the direction of his Shannara novels, concentrating on filling in the backstory of his original books and linking them to his more warmly-received Word and the Void trilogy. Raymond E. Feist's Riftwar series limped on through several more volumes, to growing apathy from the audience.

Science fiction had a mixed decade, seeing increased success in the UK (with Iain Banks' formerly rather lonely position on the bestseller charts being alleviated with the success of the likes of Peter F. Hamilton, Alastair Reynolds and Dan Abnett) and ending in a healthy state, but a reduced profile in the USA, where original SF sales were seemingly conceded to tie-ins and a few long-term writers (such as Gregory Benford and David Brin) went AWOL for much of the decade.


The All-For-Noughts SF&F Novel of the Decade


This was a hard choice with many worthy contenders but in the end I had to plump for The Separation by Christopher Priest. Published in 2002 and his only novel published in the decade, The Separation is an SF novel mixing alternate history, WWII and Priest's trademark musings on identity and different layers of reality. A complex and satisfying novel with a conclusion that begs for re-reads and different interpretations of the events.


Other Major Books of the Noughts


When it comes to epic fantasy, the dominant book of the decade was easily A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin, the third volume of A Song of Ice and Fire. Its position - being published right at the start of the decade - meant that invariably every other epic fantasy novel published in the decade was compared to it and usually found wanting, despite some coming very close. A Storm of Swords employs excellent prose with fantastic characterisation and some very clever plotting to deliver many of the most iconic fantasy moments and scenes of the decade: Oberyn and Gregor's duel, the Red Wedding in all its blood-soaked horror, the epic battle for the Wall, Tyrion Lannister's confrontation with his father and Jaime Lannister's crowning and totally unexpected moment of heroism (fighting off a bear one-handed). The first movement of ASoIaF came to an emotionally shattering conclusion which no fantasy author - not even Martin himself - has managed to match so far.


In the more original field of fantasy fiction (although still drawing on earlier works, such as Harrison and Moorcock's 1970s output), Chine Mieville followed up on his promising late-90s debut King Rat to deliver the stunning Perdido Street Station, a secondary-world steampunk epic combining many different sub-genres to form the New Weird. The visual imagery of the novel is remarkable, with its robots, cactus-people and half-human, half-insect races, and the prose lush and enjoyable. Mieville would follow this up with The Scar, Iron Council, Un Lun Dun, The City and the City and Looking for Jake, all extremely worthwhile and impressive books in their own rights, whilst his work would inspire and encourage other writers such as Steph Swainston, Alan Campbell and Mark Newton.


Dominating book sales in 2004 and into the following year was Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. The book runs out of steam in its second half, but before that it is a rich, sumptuous meal of a book, with entertaining characters, a great story centered on the increasingly tetchy rivalry between two magicians and a successful evocation of the novels of the 19th Century (not least in its prodigious length). This book took ten years to write and from the sound of it, the sequel is going to be about the same.


Even more ambitious was Mary Gentle's (even bigger) 2000 novel, Ash: A Secret History, a monumental work of speculative fiction mixing together historical fiction, science fiction, alt-history and even elements of a contemporary thriller. The ground of reality itself shifts under our protagonists' feet, confusing both the reader and the present-in-the-text-via-footnotes-and-excerpts editors, with events building to a satisfying conclusion. Massively underrated, this is a challenging and rewarding novel.


In the more traditional sphere of SF, one of the decade's dominant authors was Alastair Reynolds. His first novel, Revelation Space, was published in 2000 and he followed it up with its two sequels (Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap), two further novels set in the same universe (Chasm City and The Prefect), two story collections set in the same setting (Galactic North and Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days), three stand-alone novels (Century Rain, Pushing Ice and House of Suns) and a further story collection (Zima Blue). Reynolds combines a prodigious output with hard SF credentials and real writing ability, taking particular delight in fusing the conventions of the noir genre and occasionally gothic horror to hard SF. Amongst his books published in the 2000s, particular praise must be given to the intricate, complex and highly intriguing narrative of Chasm City and the old-school, big-dumb-object-based SF of Pushing Ice. His first novel of the new decade, Terminal World, is his best yet and marks the beginning of his new $1.6 million publishing contract in style.


Having a somewhat more mixed decade was Iain M. Banks, whose 2004 novel The Algebraist was received with a somewhat muted reception (despite winning a Hugo nomination), whilst 2008's Matter (his long-awaited return to the Culture setting) failed to set the world on fire. However, his 2000 novel Look to Windward remains an elegant and surprisingly melancholy Culture novel which examines the price of old sins and if redemption is ever truly possible. A powerful work which arguably has become more effective over time, like one of those whiskeys he likes so much (and wrote a non-fiction book, Raw Spirit, about in 2003).


Back in the epic fantasy camp, one of the series dominating book discussions in the 2000s was Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, which saw no less than ten books published during the decade (eight by Erikson, two by Ian Cameron Esslemont). Originally hailed as the 'next big thing' in the subgenre, the series delivered two killer novels in a row - 2000's Deadhouse Gates and 2001's Memories of Ice - before the early promise faded away through a number of books that, whilst remaining very decent, saw a slackening of the narrative pace and an obscuring of the series' central ideas through vast reams of secondary characters and subplots of arguable importance. But clearing away the diversions and returning to the early part of the series, these two books are cracking reads transmitted through strong protagonists and deliver, through the dual heart-rending conclusions of the Chain of Dogs and Itkovian's final moments, surprisingly powerful emotional charges. Erikson has never been as good since then, but these two novels show that there is plenty of originality and ingenuity left in the subgenre.


This theme was picked up on by Erikson's fellow Canadian Scott Bakker, whose Prince of Nothing Trilogy (2003-06) remains one of the epic fantasy highlights of the decade. A dark, brooding and intellectually pitiless work, it is cold and remote but constantly thought-provoking and raises interesting questions about motivations, religion and philosophy. His Neuropath (2008) is less accomplished, with the author falling in love too much with the central idea to the exclusion of the story and characters, but The Judging Eye (2009) is an interesting preview of a much darker and more apocalyptic sequel story to The Prince of Nothing. How Bakker brings his large story to a satisfying resolution remains to be seen in the 2010s.


One author who recovered from a late-1990s slump was Terry Pratchett, who gave us several of the strongest Discworld novels to date in this decade. The Truth, Going Postal and Making Money are all strong books, whilst Thud! and Monstrous Regiment are decent, but it's the unusually resonant and character-focused Night Watch that will likely be remembered as his masterpiece of the series in this period, whilst his non-Discworld novel Nation is also a significant book which examines the birth of a new society from the ruins of an old one.


In the SF field, Peter F. Hamilton had an interesting decade. After delivering the grand finale to his Night's Dawn Trilogy, The Naked God, in 1999 he took a break to work on a companion volume (2000's The Confederation Handbook) before resuming his fiction work. Misspent Youth (2002) was a misstep, despite its prescience in examining the issue of digital downloads killing off revenue streams for popular entertainment, possibly with disastrous consequences, but Fallen Dragon (2001) is an unusually melancholy look at a future where humanity's path to the stars is struck down by economic catastrophe. Hamilton returned to big-budget, blockbuster SF with his most satisfying novel of the decade, Pandora's Star (2004), which set up an immense number of narrative and character threads. Surprisingly, the conclusion in Judas Unchained (2005) was somewhat underwhelming, but he returned to the same setting for the solid The Dreaming Void (2007) and The Temporal Void (2008), with a third book in the series due later this year. Hamilton did see his star and sales rise in the 2000s, however, as he became (and remains) Britain's biggest-selling SF author and saw his sales in the USA also reaching impressive levels.


An author straddling both SF and Fantasy in the 2000s was Richard K. Morgan, whose strong 2002 debut, Altered Carbon, was followed by the satisfying Broken Angels and Woken Furies, as well as a stand-alone, Market Forces, before he delivered the killer 2007 novel Black Man (aka Thirteen in the USA). Dubbed by one reviewer as a Stranger in a Strange Land for the 21st Century, this was an incendiary novel with a lot of challenging things to say about religion and politics in the United States. It divided the audience quite strongly (and amusingly on both sides of the political divide, indicating he did something right), to say the least. Unfortunately, his debut fantasy work, The Steel Remains (2008), was not quite as accomplished, despite employing some clever ideas. Two further fantasy novels and a return to the SF field remain ahead for Morgan in this decade.


Brief Mentions

Joe Abercrombie requires a mention for his subversive take on the epic fantasy genre, The First Law Trilogy, and its stand-alone sort-of sequel, Best Served Cold. Funny, dark and gritty by turns, these books take a lot of lessons learned from other authors and put a great spin on them.

Greg Keyes and Alan Campbell both started off great-looking series in the 2000s with The Briar King and Scar Night, but unfortunately both series collapsed with badly-thought-out and unsatisfying conclusions. Both authors remain talented and strong writers, but are yet to fulfil their enviable potential.

Other authors of note this decade: Paul Kearney, Ian McDonald, Steph Swainston, Scott Lynch, Patrick Rothfuss, Robert Redick, Neal Stephenson (who probably would have been mentioned in the main section if I'd read Anathem or finished The Baroque Cycle), Brian Aldiss, Brandon Sanderson, Adam Roberts, the sadly late David Gemmell (who went out on a high, with The Troy Trilogy among his very finest works), Stephen Baxter, Paul McAuley, the also sadly late Robert Holdstock, Neal Asher, John Birmingham, Chris Wooding and no doubt a dozen or so others whom I'll only remember after I finish the post.

Worst work of SF&F published professionally in the 2000s: The Legends of Dune trilogy by Kevin J. Anderson and Brian Herbert. This series redefines the very meaning of the phrase 'hack work written for the money', and everyone involved in its writing, editing and publication should feel ashamed of themselves, whilst Frank Herbert is spinning so fast in the grave that he could be harnessed as a viable alternate energy source.

The All-For-Noughts

As many other bloggers have already done, I am marshaling my thoughts to pick the best SF&F books, films, TV series and computer games of the previous decade*.

Whilst I'll likely pick a 'PERSONAL BEST' choice for these things, the rest of the choices I'll leave unnumbered because the whole numbering thing provokes moaning, whilst leaving things unnumbered seems to provoke better general discussion. There'll be a number of categories, based on popular mediums, genres, or how much I've had to drink when I write them, and will appear in the near and nicely unspecified future :-)

* Specifically the 'Decade Popularly Known As The Noughts Even Though Technically It Isn't A Decade As Defined By Those Old Monks Because We Don't Have A Year 0 Even Though Jesus Wasn't 1 Year Old At Birth And What's Up With That, But Then It Should Be 2014 Anyway, So WTF?'', for clarity's sake.