The best sci-fi movies on Netflix right now

It took Zack Snyder two movies to retell the story of The Magnificent Seven in space, which is essentially what Rebel Moon is. Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire introduced Kora (Sofia Boutella), and revealed her personal connection to Motherworld, the heart of the empire that dominates the known universe. It also established that Kora is the title character in the sequel, Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver.

Kora and her remaining allies triumphed in the first part of the film when they survived an Imperium trap. But now the real challenge begins, because the Imperium is marshaling its forces to conquer Veldt, Kora’s adopted home. And she’ll do anything to protect her people, even if it kills her.

Nothing the Wachowskis have done in the last 25 years has come anywhere close to recapturing the magic of The Matrix, and that includes all three of the sequels. The first film is just about as close to perfect as a sci-fi action film can get. Keanu Reeves solidified his action hero persona as Neo, a talented hacker who is trapped in a dead-end office job.

That’s not all Neo is trapped in, especially once Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) offer Neo the answer to the question that’s been haunting him for years: “What is the Matrix?” Once he learns the truth, Neo may be forced to face his own morality as part of a prophecy that he doesn’t believe in.

Alien’s promo line infamously states that “in space, no one can hear you scream.” Spaceman isn’t a horror film, so there’s not much suspense about whether astronaut Jakub Procházka (Adam Sandler) will survive. But since Jakub is alone in deep space, no one can hear or see just how badly he is being consumed by his loneliness, his inner turmoil, and his failing marriage to Lenka Procházka (Carey Mulligan). No one except Hanuš (Paul Dano), an alien spider that Jakub encounters on his journey.

Hanuš sees and knows everything in Jakub’s mind, often to the detriment of Jakub himself. Reliving painful memories isn’t something Jakub wants, and yet he’s so desperate for any kind of companionship that the prospect of Hanuš leaving him behind is absolutely devastating to him.

The greatest accomplishment of the 2014 Godzilla reboot isn’t that it spawned Legendary’s MonsterVerse. Instead, it’s the way that this American remake helped make everyone forget about the truly awful Godzilla movie that was released in 1998. One of the ways that director Gareth Edwards pulled that off was by withholding Godzilla’s full appearance until deep into this movie. It’s the anticipation of seeing Big G in all of his glory that makes it work.

Godzilla’s primary narrative starts with Ford Brody (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a Navy officer who returns to Japan to retrieve his estranged father, Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston), a scientist who lost his wife in 1999 during an incident at a Japanese nuclear power plant. Ford is soon wrapped up in Joe’s quest for answers, which leads to something more terrifying than Godzilla that kicks off a new age of monsters.