Saturday, May 2, 2009

Children of Men

It's the year 2027 and the world has gone to shit. A wave of inexplicable infertility has swept the globe and there hasn't been a new birth in over 18 years. Faced with pending extinction, societies have collapsed while Britain seems to have somehow maintained some level of "civility". Fearful of disease and terrorists from less fortunate (and the bar's been set low in this take on the future) countries, the borders have been sealed off and illegal aliens are hunted and deported by the military. Theo, played by Clive Owen, is a London resident living every day depressed and drunk until his ex-wife and former partner activist comes back into his life. She is now a major player in the underground and asks Theo to help her transport a member of the movement out of the country. Little does he know just how important this person is to the movement (or why) and just how far some people will go to make sure that destination is not reached. Let's move on to the review, shall we?

Original Release: 2006
Running Time: 109 minutes
Acting - $2
Clive Owen... Julianne Moore... Michael Caine... and the underrated Chiwetel Ejiofor all carry their characters from beginning to end here. A slew of unknowns provide immaculate supporting performances that help keep the gritty borderline-documentary feel of the movie.

Effects & Animation - $1
I'll be the first to admit that I didn't anticipate using this category for Children of Men. While it's set in the future, it isn't a very "futuristic" film - no Delorians. What made me decide to actually use it though is their use of single cut scenes. There are several in the movie (including the longest ever I believe) where it is all filmed in one long ongoing scene. It's truly impressive to consider how difficult that must have been to coordinate and complete.

Repeat Play - $1
I'm torn here. I've tried to watch Children of Men probably six times now, but today was the FIRST time I saw it all the way from beginning to end. Nothing against the movie, but I kept either watching it while I was cleaning the house or taking a nap so I never made it past a certain scene. Now that I've finally finished it, I'm glad I did but I don't think it will be too soon that I watch it again. I'm comfortable with the dollar here.

Shock Value - $1
As much as I pride myself on not spoiling anything, I will share one here mostly because I'm assuming everyone knows it. The lady Theo is asked to help transport is pregnant... the first person to be pregnant in almost 20 years. THAT isn't the biggest shock in the story though. There were a few parts that definitely caught me off guard enough to give them a dollar here. The ending is included here since I was surprised by what I finally saw.

Action and Ass-Kickery - $1
This isn't a fight-scene movie at all. But in this take on the future the world has been ravaged by war. Soldiers and militias are everywhere you look and shooting people is a common enough practice that I will grant them .75 Euros (at the current exchange rate).
Total Rating: $6

Children of Men is a pretty unique and interesting movie, and definitely one that I would recommend. If you're a Clive Owen fan (and honestly, who isn't?) then you'll enjoy it. If you like strong acting or then you'll enjoy it. If you like interesting takes on the possibly-soon downfall of humanity, you'll enjoy and we should never hang out. Oh, and did I mention Clive Owen yet? Honestly, this isn't one that I would recommend everyone go out and buy... but if you have a chance to see it (perhaps a friend has it on DVD or its on OnDemand) then definitely give it a go. It isn't the quickest moving movie (redundant?) ever but it's still a decent time. Enjoy!

No comments: