If there’s a specific type of movie genre I would like to see more of, it’s the young adult theme. Young adult movies tend to combine many my other favorite genres into one masterpiece. Whether it be action, Sci fi, fantasy, sport, horror, thriller etc. But there are also many other genres included as well. As a young adult myself, I can also find it easier to relate with the characters. Note: most of these are based on book franchises.
1) Harry Potter series (2001-2011)
The first ever young adult franchise I’ve watched. From the very first film, I instantly became a fan of the franchise. This is probably the most relatable young adult series I’ve watched so far because I grew up watching it. As the Central characters got older, so did I. The usage of the action, fantasy, thriller, adventure, romance, horror and drama genres combined with the captivating characters and amazing soundtrack by John Williams makes it one of the greatest young adult film series ever created.
2) The hunger games (2012-2015)
I watched all 4 movies for the first time a few days ago, and I have to say that this series is perhaps one of the most powerful young adult film series that I’ve watched thus far. Many of the messages given in the film can apply to the real world. Such as: people can only take so much before they start to fight back. Replacing one evil with another evil is never good. The whole series involves a group of people being oppressed by a totalitarian regime who eventually revolt after being motivated by a single act of defiance. There aren’t many close quarter fight scenes in the movie because the protagonist specializes in long range combat(a bow). Each movie had men on the edge of my seat because the cinematography, story, sound track and scripts are top notch. If you haven’t seen these movies, I highly recommend them. Here is the most powerful scene in the entire series, it’s one of those epic movie scenes that never fails to take your breath away.
3) Maze Runner trilogy (2014-2018)
A vastly underrated film trilogy, it follows the story of a group of young men who are initially trapped within a maze with their memories erased and eventually find a way out to discover what’s really going on. It’s a combination of sci fi, action, drama, mystery, adventure and thriller. The thing I like about this trilogy is that it has a dominant Asian character that is part of the main story and isn’t cannon fodder.
4) Ready player one(2018)
A great young adult film that takes place in a world dominated by virtual reality video games. Each person can enter the virtual reality world to meet new people and compete against other players. It has a lot of Easter eggs referencing many other franchises.
5) Divergent series (2014-????)
Some people have compared this to the Matrix trilogy. The series takes place in a futuristic dystopian world where most of the world got devastated by a massive war. The central characters live within Chicago which has been sealed off by massive walls and overwatched by a group of overlords. The people within the city are divided into groups via personality types with one of those groups calling the shots. The protagonist is a young and naive woman who gradually develops into a dominant protagonist. She’s very similar to Neo from the Matrix. This series is a combination of Sci fi, action, thriller, adventure and romance. Unfortunately the final 4th film in the series was canceled or put on hold for now due to the third film doing poorly. Critics can occasionally be something else, I often wonder if they even watch the films they critique.
6) Red Dawn (1984 and 2012)
A great dystopian, action, war franchise. Both movies involve a group of American high students forming a resistance movement named after their school mascot “wolverines” and taking the fight to the invading communist forces. Fun fact, the 1984 version angered many liberal viewers.
7) Tomorrow when the war began (2010-????)
An Australian action, war and drama film that’s comparable to the Red Dawn franchise but instead of the young heroes fighting commies, the young heroes are fighting a fictional country that has invaded and occupied Australia. This movie features a “Asian male, white female” romance story, Something that is rarely done in movies. It was originally meant to be a franchise with around 6 movies but since the first film didn’t get a good reception the whole series was canceled. It’s been 9 years, since the film was released, if they ever decide to continue the franchise, they’ll probably hire new actors and actresses.
8) The darkest minds (2018-????)
A dystopian action, thriller, sci fi and adventure film based on a book series about young people being locked up in work camps by adults because of a viral disease that granted them powers. The movie is shown through the perspective of a group of young people who managed to break out of a work camp and survive on their own and fight against the regime run by generation X adults. It’s Generation Z vs Generation X. Since the film was poorly received, the intended sequels are on hold/canceled leaving it on a cliffhanger.
9) The 5th wave (2016-????)
A dystopian Young adult film involving a group young people trying to survive an alien invasion but unlike most alien films in which the aliens come in “guns blazing” the alien invasion is more covert. So far only one film has been made, there are rumors of it turning into a franchise to cover each book but since this film was poorly received any potential sequel is currently on hold.
10) Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
A sequel to the popular 1996 film Independence Day. Unlike the first film, the sequel’s central characters are young adults. The film also takes place 20 years later where humans reverse engineered the alien technology. Oh and Will Smith’s character was killed off screen in a accident as a passing of the torch to the character’s son, much to the disappointment of the critics.
I’m sure there are many more young adult movies out there but these are the only ones I’ve watched so far that are to my liking.
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