Movie Row: Review of "Children of Men"

Review of "Children of Men"
Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Children of Men is a good, carefully crafted apocalytic film about the chaotic and hopeless world of 2027 in which no child was born for the past 18 years. Set in and around a dystopian London torn apart by violence and warring sects, the movie follows Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a disillusioned ex-activist who’s forced to protect and transport a pregnant woman named Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey) to a scientists sanctuary at sea.

For the most part it follows one of the classic apocalypse recipes: because of it’s constant line of mistakes (polluting, disrespecting nature, warring etc), humankind is on the brink of extinction. For some unknown reasons, we’ve lost the ability to procreate and thus, in term became desperate enough to actually manage and bring most of the world to chaos, leaving only one spot of relative normality – Britain. A plot that resembles a futuristic “Battle of Britain” with very dark prospects. A plot not quite used to it’s full potential as it's stingy with some details and concentrates on Kee, Theo and them getting from point A to point B in one piece. But I’ll overlook that as there are some very small clues regarding possible questions and the trip itself is action packed and at times humorous enough to keep your eyes glued to the screen.

The acting is overall great. The old hippie Jasper, portrayed by Michael Caine, is a good example of the acting quality seen in this movie and at the same time contributes a great deal to the funny pieces. The same goes for Julianne Moore (as Julian Taylor) and of course, the main characters, Theo and Kee. However, I have to point out the sort of robot-like acting and exaggerated reactions of Marichka, the gypsy in the camp, portrayed by the Romanian actress, Oana Pellea. As a Romanian, being able to understand what she was saying, I’ve found Marichka too artificial in a way.

Helping the feeling and being a nice touch is the sound. There are a lot of minute details, easy to miss that add to the atmosphere of the world depicted and they really help the visuals, who are also very good and on this part I have to give Emmanuel Lubezki, the director of photography his well deserved credit as he really does wonders with the beautiful, outdoor shots. And the soundtrack is excellent with the alternative Spanish version of "Ruby Tuesday" along with some classical pieces.

The ending will disappoint some people and it did disappoint me a little. It’s almost like there’s a pseudo Deus Ex Machina there, but that depends on what you like to belive about the prospects that lay ahead for humanity – will it or will it not survive.

Overall this is movie is worth your attention and may actually stay in your head well after you’ve watched it. If it weren’t for the unanswered questions, some dubious twists and minor flaws, I’d give it a 10, but considering the above, I’ll settle for an 8.

RATING: 8/10

Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón
Writing credits: Alfonso Cuarón (screenplay), Timothy J. Sexton (screenplay), David Arata (screenplay), Mark Fergus (screenplay), Hawk Ostby (screenplay) & P.D. James (novel "The Children of Men")
Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Claire-Hope Ashitey, Pam Ferris, & Danny Huston

MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong violence, language, some drug use and brief nudity.
Runtime: 109 min
Country: UK / USA
Language: Serbo-Croatian / German / Italian / Romanian / English / Spanish
Color: Color
Sound Mix: SDDS / Dolby Digital / DTS
Certification: Singapore:NC-16 / Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) / Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) / Ireland:15A / Portugal:M/16 / Netherlands:16 / USA:R / France:U / Germany:16 / Finland:K-15 / Australia:MA / UK:15 / South Africa:16LV

Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 15 nominations

See it also at:
IMDb
Metacritic
Rotten Tomatoes

Posted byBurner at 15:47