Fantasy is a wide-ranging genre that provides many exciting stories, but the decade of the 2000s offered up some fantasy films that haven’t aged well. Film is one of the best formats to tell a fantasy story, as proven by the many iconic fantasy films. Film is also a broad format that splits the genre into several categories, increasing the opportunity to tell ever-inventive fantasy stories with different flavors. There are incredible animated fantasy movies, sci-fi fantasy movies, and historical fantasy movies that all establish their own cultural impact.
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Fantasy films also vary depending on the decade. There are decades, such as the 1980s, that released several fantasy movies that provide magic and wonder. There are several iconic fantasy movies from the 2000s as well. However, though the 2000s was a great decade for the genre, it also had several fantasy movies that made specific narrative or production decisions that impacted the film terribly. While these choices might have seemed fine at the time, they have only aged poorly since then.
10 The Road To El Dorado (2000)
The Road To El Dorado Romanticizes Spanish Colonization
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The Road to El Dorado was the next big film from DreamWorks after the amazing success of The Prince of Egypt. However, while DreamWorks took the appropriate steps to ensure that The Prince of Egypt was respectful and accurate, they did not take the same great care with The Road to El Dorado. The animated film is based on a legend created by Spanish colonists and leaves out the brutal consequences of this myth—namely, the Indigenous cultures that were severely impacted along the way. In reality, this legend incited a lot of violence and destruction against Latin America’s Indigenous populations.
The Road to El Dorado might have gone over the heads of many children when it was first released, but the film is evidently entrenched with racism and colonialism.
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Furthermore, The Road to El Dorado has a female protagonist named Chel, who embodies misogynistic and racist stereotypes about Indigenous women. According to The Indigenous Geek Girl, Chel was highly oversexualized and written to be a love interest for one of the Spanish colonizers. She also abandons her Indigenous community in favor of Tulio and Miguel, even returning with them to Spain at the end of the film. The Road to El Dorado might have gone over the heads of many children when it was first released, but the film is evidently entrenched with racism and colonialism.
9 Dungeons & Dragons (2000)
Dungeons & Dragons Contains Terrible Acting & Does Not Honor The Role-Play Game
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Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy film released in 2000 loosely based on the iconic role-playing game. While the film had a lot of potential, it aged badly because of the terrible acting and disrespect to the original game. It is almost like production never played the game or consulted experts while making the film. Furthermore, Dungeons & Dragons portrays racist caricatures. Thankfully, a new film based on the game now exists. Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves fixes the terrible mistakes of the 2000 movie and is a much better film based on the game.
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8 Click (2006)
Click Capitalizes On Fatphobia While Containing Inappropriate Jokes About Michael Jackson & Britney Spears
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Click is a sci-fi fantasy film released in 2006, starring Adam Sandler and Kate Beckinsale. The movie revolves around Sandler’s Michael Newman, who finds a universal remote control that allows him to alter reality. While the film teaches important lessons about love, life, and materialism, it also contains several scenes that do not age well. During the film, Adam Sandler wears a fat suit for the 2017 version of his character to make fun of Michael Newman’s weight gain. Not all fat people are that way because of food, and it is incredibly disingenuous to treat bigger people as such.
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Furthermore, in 2017, Michael Newman listens to the news which mentions Britney Spears and Kevin Federline having their 23rd child together as a joke. Now that it is almost 20 years later, Britney Spears has since spoken and written about her troubles during this turbulent era, so Click making fun of her is retroactively in bad taste. The news also mentions that Michael Jackson cloned himself and is now suing himself because of molestation. Not only did Michael Jackson unexpectedly die in June 2009, but molestation jokes are also highly inappropriate and not able to pass without criticism today.
7 Eragon (2006)
Eragon Is A Poor Adaptation Of Christopher Paolini’s Novel
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Eragon is a movie adaptation that made a decent profit but was not a good film. The movie adaptation was a disservice to the characters by watering down their personalities and core traits. Eragon skimmed over the world-building from the book, one of the reasons why the film’s novel counterpart is a compelling story. The CGI and effects did not create a fantasy vibe; they were just cringeworthy. Eragon did not even take the time to tell the story properly because the film cut out critical aspects of the novel. Overall, it is not a film that aged well.
6 The Golden Compass (2007)
The Golden Compass Movie Changed The Most Fundamental Aspects Of The Book
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The Golden Compass is another book adaptation where the film did not age well, although it is for a different reason. Production ended up watering down the book series’ criticism of religion in the adaptation to reduce backlash from religious organizations. However, this decision received a lot of criticism, and rightfully so, because the downside of institutionalized religion is a core theme of Philip Pullman’s story. Without it, The Golden Compass movie tells a different story altogether, despite the film’s attempt to be somewhat inclusive of the trilogy’s themes.
Related His Dark Materials Proves TV Adaptations Can Be Better Than Movies
The recent television series, His Dark Materials, adapted the novel series of the same name after a failed movie franchise in the late 2000s.
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Furthermore, the director controversially removed the first book’s final three chapters for The Golden Compass, intending to save it for the following installment. However, The Golden Compass never had a sequel, opting to pursue a TV adaptation, His Dark Materials, instead. This TV show was a much more faithful adaptation, and many of the book-to-screen changes His Dark Materials created were positive choices that improved the story. Overall, The Golden Compass failed to capture the magic of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, proving that movie productions should not be afraid to adapt books—even the most controversial aspects.
5 City Of Ember (2008)
City Of Ember Changed The Stakes From Its Book Counterpart
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City of Ember had a terrific cast, so it is surprising that the film aged poorly. However, considering the significant narrative changes from book to screen, it makes sense that this fantasy movie is not remembered fondly. The main issue with this film is that the stakes differ entirely from those in the book. In The City of Ember, the underground city of Ember is meant to last only 200 years, meaning that Ember is no longer inhabitable since it has been more than 200 years. The protagonist, Lina Mayfleet, discovers this crucial information during the novel.
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The Books of Ember |
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|---|---|
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Title |
Publication Date |
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The City of Ember |
May 13, 2003 |
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The People of Sparks |
May 25, 2004 |
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The Prophet of Yonwood (Prequel) |
May 9, 2006 |
|
The Diamond of Darkhold |
August 25, 2008 |
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However, City of Ember already establishes these circumstances at the beginning of the movie, resulting in the adaptation losing one of the key plot twists from the book. In City of Ember, the characters already know they must escape because their civilization is decaying, which removes most of the excitement and compelling aspects of the narrative. City of Ember aged so badly that the books have essentially become forgotten, giving the books a bad reputation instead despite the riveting story. Hopefully, a new adaptation that will tell this story faithfully will eventually come about.
4 Twilight (2008)
Bella & Edward’s Romance Is Creepy
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The Twilight Saga is not just a popular book or film series—it is a cultural staple of the late 2000s, especially the first two films. However, the series has several controversial aspects that contribute to its terrible aging. Twilight, in particular, has one crucial factor that kickstarted the cringeworthy aspects throughout the series—Bella and Edward’s relationship development. At first, Bella is intrigued by Edward, even though he appears to watch her creepily. Edward becomes obsessed with Bella before they even get to know each other.
The Twilight Saga
The Twilight Saga is a paranormal romance series that ignited a cultural phenomenon. Centering on the forbidden love between ordinary human Bella Swan and the centuries-old vampire Edward Cullen, the saga explores themes of love, loss, and the supernatural. As their relationship deepens, they navigate a world filled with vampires, werewolves, and ancient rivalries, all while grappling with the complexities of their immortal and mortal existences. The series captivated audiences with its blend of teenage angst, forbidden romance, and supernatural intrigue, launching a global franchise that includes films, merchandise, and a dedicated fanbase.
Created by Stephenie Meyer First Film Twilight (2008) Character(s) Bella Swan , Edward Cullen , Jacob Black , Carlisle Cullen , Esme Cullen , Alice Cullen , Jasper Hale , Emmett Cullen , Rosalie Hale
Summary
The Twilight Saga is a paranormal romance series that ignited a cultural phenomenon. Centering on the forbidden love between ordinary human Bella Swan and the centuries-old vampire Edward Cullen, the saga explores themes of love, loss, and the supernatural. As their relationship deepens, they navigate a world filled with vampires, werewolves, and ancient rivalries, all while grappling with the complexities of their immortal and mortal existences. The series captivated audiences with its blend of teenage angst, forbidden romance, and supernatural intrigue, launching a global franchise that includes films, merchandise, and a dedicated fanbase.
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When Bella learns the truth about Edward’s vampirism, it does not throw her off—which makes sense since she is in love with him. However, learning about Edward’s stalkerish behavior does not faze her. Bella seems to be fine with Edward’s possessiveness, obsession, and stalker tendencies. As a result, Edward’s behavior becomes normalized, even though Bella and Edward’s relationship illustrates toxicity. Twilight is a popular film that popularized the books that became a cultural phenomenon. However, it does not change that the circumstances surrounding Bella and Edward’s romance are troubling and have not aged well.
3 Inkheart (2009)
Inkheart Sped Up The Narrative Dramatically, Ignoring Two Books Of The Trilogy It Is Based On
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Inkheart is another movie that aged badly because of adaptation issues. In this case, the Inkheart film tells a different story from Cornelia Funke’s trilogy. Although there are three books, the production behind Inkheart made some narrative decisions that quickened the film’s pace and made it seem like a standalone movie rather than the first installment of a trilogy. The magic and whimsy of the books more or less disappear from the film adaptation altogether. It is incredibly disheartening that Inkheart has aged badly because the children’s fantasy book deserves much more love and appreciation.
2 Dragonball Evolution (2009)
Dragonball Evolution Is Notorious For Whitewashing The Iconic Manga Series
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Dragonball Evolution is a loose adaptation of Akira Toriyama’s Dragon Ball manga series. The film was so bad that even Toriyama criticized it for being unable to “capture the world or the characteristics [of Dragon Ball].” (via Kotaku) Dragonball Evolution is a failed adaptation for various reasons, including a lack of authenticity and disloyalty to Toriyama’s work. However, the biggest aspect contributing to Dragonball Evolution‘s terrible aging is the whitewashing. Dragon Ball features Japanese characters, and manga is a form of the Japanese graphic novel. Whitewashing used to be common in Hollywood films, but thankfully, it is now greatly frowned upon.
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1 17 Again (2009)
Zac Efron’s Character Kisses His Wife As A 17-Year-Old & His Daughter Unknowingly Hits On Him
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Zac Efron’s 17 Again is a great movie, but it does not change the fact that some aspects of the film have aged badly. When Mike O’Donnell goes back to high school, it offsets several awkward and inappropriate scenes. For one, Mike makes a joke about Afghan women and their rights when he is talking to Scarlet, his soon-to-be ex-wife. Mike lectures his daughter’s friends about self-respect all because they flirted with him, thinking he is 17. He also kisses Scarlet in his 17-year-old body, completely forgetting that even though his brain is 37, his body is 17.
17 Again is available to watch on MAX.
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The strangest part about 17 Again is when Maggie hits on Mike, not knowing he is her father. Of course, Maggie is unaware that she tried to initiate sex with her father’s 17-year-old self, but she overdoes it to the point where this scene would not exist today. If 17 Again were made today, Maggie might have a crush on Mike as Mark, but it would not go to the extent it does, especially since she touches him without his consent. These scenes illustrate why 17 Again is an almost perfect fantasy movie, but it could have been better.
Sources: Medium, The Indigenous Geek Girl, Kotaku