3 Forgotten 2010s Movies That Changed Their Genre’s Last Decade (#1 Set The Stage For John Wick’s Success)

While the 2010s might not seem to be too far behind us, the decade has already had a major impact on the wider world of pop culture. While many might think of the 2010s as a decade defined by its many successful superhero movies, the ten-year span also saw a number of great films released across a wide array of genres. Many of the best movies of the 2010s are widely talked about in terms of their narrative strength or their cultural impact, but not every important movie from the decade gets the recognition it deserves. While many of the most influential movies are spoken about frequently and in reverent tones, there are always others whose contributions to their specific genre, or, indeed, to wider cinema, are unfairly forgotten.

In truth, there are many overlooked movies from the 2010s that were far more important than their reputations otherwise suggest. General audiences might have heard of or even seen these films, but have missed their residual influence on their respective genres. Each of these movies released during the 2010s had an undeniable impact on the movies that followed, helping to shape and define the past decade of movies within its specific genre as a result.

3) Upgrade (2018)

2018 might not yet be a full decade behind us, but the influence of Leigh Whannell’s Upgrade is already clear. The forgotten yet perfect sci-fi film stars Logan Marshall Green as a man who is left paralyzed after a mugging, only to receive an experimental enhancement implant that allows him to not only walk again, but to seek revenge on his attackers. Part sci-fi, part action, and part body horror, Upgrade took a high-concept premise and used it to effortlessly blend multiple genres on a relatively modest budget. It cemented Leigh Whannell as a bankable director with excellent genre-bending ideas, but it also subtly proved that narrative strength and clever filmmaking are far more important than a hefty budget when it comes to thought-provoking sci-fi, even when action remains central to a movie’s plot. In the future, we will undoubtedly look back on Upgrade with considerable reverence, as it seems destined to influence modern sci-fi movies for the better.

2) Coherence (2013)

When considering awesome sci-fi movies from the 2010s, it’s all too easy to overlook Coherence, because it lacks the big-budget spectacle of some of the genre’s high-profile releases. Instead, it takes an ensemble cast and an almost non-existent budget, and spins a groundbreakingly complex yarn about a dinner party affected by the passing of a comet. Without leaning on exposition, Coherence challenges both its characters and its audience to make sense of what’s happening without all the typical bells and whistles of sci-fi movies. By refusing to lean on tired tropes, Coherence gave audiences a taste of high-concept sci-fi of a completely different sort. Its quantum-fuelled premise leaned into ideas of social paranoia and interpersonal conflict to deliver a whole new type of low-budget sci-fi. It’s another movie that many fans have taken years to fully appreciate, but its sci-fi legacy can already be glimpsed in the success of movies such as Arrival and Annihilation, even if none have quite yet replicated its balance of visual simplicity with narrative complexity.

1) The Raid: Redemption (2011)

2011’s The Raid enjoys something of a cult following, but outside of dedicated action movie fans, it remains relatively unknown. Written and directed by Gareth Evans, it simply follows an Indonesian police squad tasked with raiding a drug lord’s apartment block who are forced to fight their way through the building to reach their target. It highlights the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat and is credited as one of the best action movies of its era for numerous reasons. The brutal realism of The Raid‘s fight scenes is what set it apart from other action movies of its time. It’s precisely that quality that not only influenced the action genre moving forward, but also helped pave the way for the massive global success of John Wick. Keanu Reeves’ action franchise might not have borrowed narrative elements from The Raid, but its brand of gritty, brutal combat was clearly inspired in some way by The Raid‘s own incredible action sequences. While the movie itself hasn’t been totally forgotten, The Raid‘s huge impact on modern action movies is all too often unfairly overlooked.

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