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Best Fantasy Movies of the 2000s, Ranked by IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDB
125 fantasy films from the 2000s are in our catalog; the 50 best are ranked below. Top of the list is The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), at 9.0 on IMDb. The average IMDb score across this list is 7.6. Biggest split between audiences and critics: Underworld, 7.0 on IMDb against 42 on Metacritic.
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| # | Movie | Genre | IMDb | Tomato | Meta | TMDB | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King '2003 | Fantasy / Action | 9.0 | 94% | 94 | 8.5 | Peter Jackson |
| 2 | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring '2001 | Fantasy / Action | 8.9 | 91% | 92 | 8.4 | Peter Jackson |
| 3 | The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers '2002 | Fantasy / Action | 8.8 | 95% | 87 | 8.4 | Peter Jackson |
| 4 | Spirited Away '2001 | Animation / Fantasy | 8.6 | 96% | 96 | 8.5 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 5 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl '2003 | Fantasy / Action | 8.1 | 79% | 63 | 7.8 | Gore Verbinski |
| 6 | Pan's Labyrinth '2006 | Fantasy / Drama / War | 8.2 | 95% | 98 | 7.8 | Guillermo del Toro |
| 7 | Monsters, Inc. '2001 | Animation / Comedy / Fantasy | 8.1 | 96% | 79 | 7.9 | Pete Docter |
| 8 | Ratatouille '2007 | Animation / Comedy / Fantasy | 8.1 | 96% | 96 | 7.8 | Brad Bird |
| 9 | Howl's Moving Castle '2004 | Fantasy / Animation | 8.2 | 88% | 82 | 8.4 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 10 | Donnie Darko '2001 | Fantasy / Drama / Mystery | 8.0 | 88% | 88 | 7.8 | Richard Kelly |
| 11 | Shrek '2001 | Animation / Comedy / Fantasy | 7.9 | 89% | 84 | 7.8 | Andrew Adamson |
| 12 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban '2004 | Fantasy | 7.9 | 90% | 82 | 8.0 | Alfonso Cuarón |
| 13 | Big Fish '2003 | Fantasy / Drama | 7.9 | 76% | 58 | 7.7 | Tim Burton |
| 14 | The Curious Case of Benjamin Button '2008 | Drama / Fantasy / Romance | 7.8 | 72% | 70 | 7.6 | David Fincher |
| 15 | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone '2001 | Fantasy | 7.7 | 80% | 65 | 7.9 | Chris Columbus |
| 16 | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire '2005 | Fantasy | 7.7 | 88% | 81 | 7.8 | Mike Newell |
| 17 | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince '2009 | Fantasy | 7.6 | 83% | 78 | 7.7 | David Yates |
| 18 | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets '2002 | Fantasy | 7.5 | 82% | 63 | 7.7 | Chris Columbus |
| 19 | Coraline '2009 | Animation / Fantasy / Horror | 7.8 | 91% | 80 | 7.9 | Henry Selick |
| 20 | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix '2007 | Fantasy | 7.5 | 78% | 71 | 7.7 | David Yates |
| 21 | Stardust '2007 | Fantasy / Romance | 7.6 | 77% | 66 | 7.3 | Matthew Vaughn |
| 22 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest '2006 | Fantasy / Action | 7.4 | 53% | 53 | 7.4 | Gore Verbinski |
| 23 | The Illusionist '2006 | Fantasy / Drama / Thriller / Romance | 7.5 | 74% | 68 | 7.3 | Neil Burger |
| 24 | Shrek 2 '2004 | Animation / Comedy / Fantasy / Romance | 7.4 | 89% | 75 | 7.3 | Conrad Vernon |
| 25 | Finding Neverland '2004 | Drama / Fantasy | 7.6 | 83% | 67 | 7.3 | Marc Forster |
| 26 | Kung Fu Hustle '2004 | Action / Comedy / Crime / Fantasy | 7.7 | 90% | 78 | 7.5 | Stephen Chow |
| 27 | The Emperor's New Groove '2000 | Animation / Comedy / Fantasy | 7.4 | 86% | 70 | 7.6 | Mark Dindal |
| 28 | Perfume: The Story of a Murderer '2006 | Crime / Fantasy / Drama | 7.5 | 59% | 56 | 7.4 | Tom Tykwer |
| 29 | Stranger Than Fiction '2006 | Drama / Comedy / Romance / Fantasy | 7.5 | 73% | 67 | 7.3 | Marc Forster |
| 30 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End '2007 | Fantasy / Action | 7.2 | 43% | 50 | 7.3 | Gore Verbinski |
| 31 | Corpse Bride '2005 | Romance / Fantasy / Animation | 7.4 | 85% | 83 | 7.6 | Mike Johnson |
| 32 | Ponyo '2008 | Animation / Fantasy | 7.6 | 91% | 86 | 7.8 | Hayao Miyazaki |
| 33 | Shaolin Soccer '2001 | Action / Comedy / Fantasy | 7.3 | 89% | 68 | 7.2 | Stephen Chow |
| 34 | Treasure Planet '2002 | Sci-Fi / Animation / Fantasy | 7.2 | 68% | 60 | 7.6 | Ron Clements |
| 35 | The Girl Who Leapt Through Time '2006 | Fantasy / Animation / Drama / Sci-Fi | 7.6 | 87% | 66 | 7.8 | Mamoru Hosoda |
| 36 | The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie '2004 | Animation / Comedy / Fantasy | 7.2 | 68% | 67 | 7.1 | Stephen Hillenburg |
| 37 | Enchanted '2007 | Comedy / Fantasy / Romance | 7.1 | 93% | 75 | 6.9 | Kevin Lima |
| 38 | Elf '2003 | Comedy / Fantasy | 7.1 | 85% | 66 | 6.7 | Jon Favreau |
| 39 | The Cat Returns '2002 | Fantasy / Animation / Drama | 7.1 | 88% | 70 | 7.1 | Hiroyuki Morita |
| 40 | The Road to El Dorado '2000 | Animation / Comedy / Fantasy | 6.9 | 49% | 51 | 7.3 | Bibo Bergeron |
| 41 | The Family Man '2000 | Comedy / Drama / Romance / Fantasy | 6.9 | 54% | 42 | 6.8 | Brett Ratner |
| 42 | The Princess and the Frog '2009 | Animation / Romance / Fantasy | 7.2 | 86% | 73 | 7.2 | Ron Clements |
| 43 | Hellboy '2004 | Fantasy / Action | 6.9 | 81% | 72 | 6.7 | Guillermo del Toro |
| 44 | Underworld '2003 | Fantasy / Action / Thriller | 7.0 | 31% | 42 | 6.9 | Len Wiseman |
| 45 | Constantine '2005 | Fantasy / Action / Horror | 7.0 | 46% | 50 | 7.2 | Francis Lawrence |
| 46 | Hellboy II: The Golden Army '2008 | Fantasy / Action | 7.0 | 86% | 78 | 6.8 | Guillermo del Toro |
| 47 | The Time Traveler's Wife '2009 | Drama / Romance / Fantasy | 7.1 | 38% | 47 | 7.0 | Robert Schwentke |
| 48 | Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra '2002 | Fantasy / Comedy | 6.7 | 88% | - | 7.4 | Alain Chabat |
| 49 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe '2005 | Fantasy | 6.9 | 76% | 75 | 7.1 | Andrew Adamson |
| 50 | Trick 'r Treat '2007 | Horror / Fantasy / Comedy | 6.7 | 84% | - | 7.0 | Michael Dougherty |
Our catalog covers roughly the 8,800 most-rated films on TMDB, so lesser-known titles may be missing. Order uses a confidence-weighted IMDb score so a perfect score from a handful of votes does not beat a well-established classic; the scores shown are the raw ones.
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Other genres in the 2000s
Action of the 2000s Animation of the 2000s Comedy of the 2000s Crime of the 2000s Drama of the 2000s Horror of the 2000s Mystery of the 2000s Romance of the 2000s Sci-Fi of the 2000s Thriller of the 2000s War of the 2000s
Directors on this list
Peter Jackson Hayao Miyazaki Gore Verbinski Guillermo del Toro Pete Docter Brad Bird Alfonso Cuarón Tim Burton David Fincher Chris Columbus Mike Newell David Yates
Actors on this list
Elijah Wood Ian McKellen Johnny Depp Geoffrey Rush John Goodman Jake Gyllenhaal Jena Malone Mike Myers Eddie Murphy Daniel Radcliffe Rupert Grint Ewan McGregor