Children of Men

If you are to believe Hollywood, the world's future is looking extremely bleak. Nearly every movie from the science fiction genre that deals with the future shows off a post-apocalyptic world. At the very least, futuristic movies depict a world darker and worse off than the one we currently live in. A very scary thought indeed. Children of Men is based on British author P.D. James' 1993 novel of the same name, in which the year is 2027, and there has been no child born in 18 years. There is no future generation in this world that is dying. Only Britain has yet to collapse into a state of total terrorism, as the rest of the world's cities are in utter chaos. This means immigration in the country is high (one of many social commentaries in the film) with people fleeing to the country from all reaches of the globe. Our lead is Theo Faron (Clive Owen) who we find out once had a love affair with Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore) that brought a child into the world. Tragedy befell the child and they have since separated. Julian leads Theo to a young women who is miraclously pregnant, and if you have seen the trailer or have heard anything about the film then you know that Children of Men is about Theo's desperate attempt to keep this women alive so she can deliver this baby, in a world admidst of chaos. Children of Men has a killer concept and is executed well enough to be a really fun action/thriller movie. Yes, the film at times tries to be so much more than that with it's political and social concerns, but for me it dragged in those areas. It didn't give me enough information to keep my interest and wasn't original enough in it's ideas to get by with what little they were giving us. Much has been said of director Alfonso Cuaron's hand-held chase and battle sequences along with his frequent use of long takes, and for good reason too as they are extremely effective. This is not Cuaron trying to be clever, they are done in this way to transport you into the world this dark world. The sort of world that you only see on your news channels showing images from Iraq. The sort of world where the soldiers visit in Black Hawk Down (which interestingly also used many long takes and hand-held camera work). Only this is our home, our world. In the not to distant future. If V for Vendetta (which is probably the movie that shares the closet themes of Children of Men in recent times) had too much talking and exposition then Children of Men is the complete opposite. Things are left unexplained, like just how and why has this women become pregnant? Why is Britain the only place not in ruins when the rest of the world is? If you want a science fiction movie that gives you all the answers in a 2 minute montage at the film's end, then this movie is clearly not for you. Then again, if you don't like things not to be fully explained and left in the open then you will be disappointed with this movie at times. My personal preference would have been somewhere in the middle, a little more explanation but not too much. Some more background to the film, would not have gone a miss here. I can't review a Clive Owen movie without mentioning his acting. His usual robotic routine was out in full force again, delivering another character that bored me to tears. Seriously, what does anyone seen in this guy? Julianne Moore seemed really out of place in the picture, and I wasn't feeling any chemistry between those two former "lovers". At least Michael Caine was once again in top form, surprisingly in an against type "hippie" role, which as usual with him these days he stole every scene he was in.

rating: 3.5

A very enjoyable science fiction movie that is bravely directed at times from the very talented Alfonso Cuaron. Children of Men will certainly keep your interest and has some fascinating ideas, but in the end is nothing more than just a good genre flick.