The 2000s seem like they ended only yesterday but here we are about to bid farewell to another decade. While the 90s proved to be a transformative year for cinema, the 2000s continued to establish its own trends and reshape the kinds of movies that were getting made.
This decade saw controversy with many saying Hollywood was moving further and further away from original stories. But we also saw incredible leaps in technology that allowed stories to be told that were once impossible. While the decade gave us many fantastic films, a select few stand out. Here are the most culturally influential films of the 2000s.
Casino Royale
By the early 2000s, the James Bond franchise was running out of steam and becoming a parody of itself. A change was needed, and it came with Casino Royale. The film cast Daniel Craig as 007 in this origin tale of the early days of the superspy.
The film took a back-to-basics approach by grounding the spy adventures, reducing the over-the-top gadgets and exploring the central character in some new and fascinating ways. The movie revitalized Bond made a star of Craig and proved any franchise can find its legs again given the right approach.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin
The “frat humor” movies of the early 2000s were already starting to get a little stale by the time The 40-Year-Old-Virgin was released, but this film found a way to take that concept of the man-child comedy into a new and better direction.
The Judd Apatow film starred Steve Carrell as a lonely middle-aged man who has never had sex. Despite the crass premise, the film found a lot of heart in its story which became a trend with Apatow’s brand. The film helped launch Apatow as a major player and hinted at his penchant for putting the spotlight on actors who would normally be playing the goofy friend characters.
Bowling For Columbine
Documentaries rarely make much of a splash with the mainstream, but filmmaker Michael Moore has a talent for finding the right provocative material to draw audiences in. With Bowling for Columbine, Moore addressed the always controversial gun rights issue in America.
Using the tragedy of the Columbine High School shooting as a backdrop, the film used humor, insightful thinking and new viewpoints to take a critical look at the issue. While some may differ with the message, the film managed to get the public talking about a documentary which is a rare feat in Hollywood.
Shrek
Pixar had an incredible run of animated masterpieces in the 2000s, from Finding Nemo to The Incredibles to Up. But the animated film that had the most influence in the 2000s was Shrek. The quasi-fairy tale film followed a reclusive ogre who reluctantly goes on a quest to save a princess.
The movie continued the trend of computer-animated filmmaking that was established by Pixar but introduced a new brand of animated films. Shrek was as much for the parents as it was for the kids, packed with pop culture references, music and humor that could be enjoyed by all ages.
Avatar
Some people have pointed out that despite becoming to highest-grossing movie of all time, Avatar did not leave as significant a cultural imprint as you might expect. While the story and characters of the film may not have created much of an impact, it’s impossible to ignore the film’s cultural relevancy as a whole.
Once again, James Cameron created an ambitious project that proved many people wrong. He helped pioneer motion-capture filmmaking as a mainstream trend and successfully brought 3D presentation back to theaters. And he did it all with an original story.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a film that proved foreign-language films could make an impact in Hollywood. The Ang Lee film told the beautiful story of romance and adventure about a girl who steals a sword from a famed swordsman.
The movie was one of the biggest hits of the year and remains one of the highest-grossing foreign-language films in the United States. The fact that audiences were excited to show up for a film like this has helped more films from other countries find success in Hollywood.
Spider-Man
Superhero movies had been around for decades before, but they were never taken very seriously or seen much success outside of the Batman and Superman films. However, the 2000s saw that change in a big way. After X-Men proved to be a hit, Spider-Man came along to break all the records and usher in the age of comic book films.
The movie fully embraced its comic book roots instead of being embarrassed by them. The result was an entertaining, funny and thrilling action film that showed audiences the excitement that comes with bringing these iconic heroes to life on the big screen.
Iron Man
There’s no denying that the MCU is the biggest thing in Hollywood right now. The connected cinematic universe introduced a new kind of storytelling in films and inspired countless franchises to attempt their own cinematic universe. And the whole thing started with Iron Man.
Though the character was not as well known as Spider-Man and Batman, the movie’s fun energy matched with a brilliant performance from Robert Downey Jr. became a massive success. Without this film’s achievements, there would be no MCU as we know it.
The Dark Knight
The same year that Iron Man was introducing the idea of a larger superhero world told through films, Christopher Nolan was showing audiences what kind of epic and complex stories could be told through comic book movies.
His Batman sequel doubled down on the grounded and gritty take on the Caped Crusader pitting him against Joker (Heath Ledger) in a sprawling crime epic. Along with the ambitious scope and Ledger’s astounding performance, Nolan made a comic book movie that could be taken seriously. From that moment, the genre either followed the MCU’s fun romp energy or Nolan’s realistic and raw approach.
The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy
The Lord of the Rings might be three separate films, but there is no ignoring that it made for the biggest cinematic experience of the decade. Based on the beloved novels, Peter Jackson defied expectations by delivering a massive epic trilogy that lived up to its source material.
Not since Star Wars had a series inspired fans in such a way. The films brought the fantasy genre back in a big way, introduced the world to the ground-breaking motion capture technology and presented a huge adventure that fans revisit again and again with the same passion.
