Ryan Gosling better watch out – people are waking up to the fact that a sci-fi film don’t have to have actors to be good. But I’m getting ahead of myself. The thing that gets me about Last and First Men is how it tries to pass off as a sci-fi film when it’s really just an excuse for the director to show off his collection of black and white photos and talk about human evolution. Seriously, one thing you should know is that Last and First Men … It’s like the director was trying to make a statement about the cyclical nature of humanity, but got lost in his own pretentiousness.

An interesting thing about this film is that it’s actually considered a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes. But let’s be real here, just because something is labeled as “art” doesn’t automatically make it good. We deserve better in the sci-fi genre than a lazy slideshow with a monotone voiceover. The director may call this an “anthropological investigation,” but it’s really just a cop-out for not having any real plot or characters. It’s like they didn’t even bother trying.  

And don’t even get me started on the so-called “stunning cinematography.” Sure, the shots of old monuments and buildings may look pretty, but it’s nothing groundbreaking. We’ve all seen these types of shots before in travel documentaries. Good enough isn’t good enough for a sci-fi film – we should be pushing the boundaries of science and technology, not just showing off our photography skills.

So, fellow cinephiles, let’s not fall for this empty, pseudo-intellectual nonsense. Yes it’s a sci-fi film without actors. So what? I demand more from our sci-fi films – real storytelling, complex characters, and groundbreaking ideas. Because, let’s face it, sitting through an hour and ten minutes of statues and Tilda Swinton’s droning voice is not a thought-provoking experience, it’s just plain boring. We’ve seen these kinds of films before and when they work, they work. When they don’t – yikes. Quit dumbing things down to make everyone happy and give us the sci-fi masterpieces we deserve.