Emotionally disconnected, but a good movie nevertheless

Rating: 7/10 (7 January 2007)

I had very high hopes going into "Children of Men", and although I wasn't completely satisfied, the movie explored a very possible and realistic dark future for mankind if there were no babies for 18 years. The movie is dark, depressing, and draws you into a world that has lost hope and where governments enact fascist regimes to keep civilization from falling apart. People either try to live on hopelessly or take government sanctioned suicide kits to end the misery. Happy stuff, huh? =) With this in mind, Alfonso Cuaron does a great job creating the world, the atmosphere, an the believability of the world. There're no sci-fi gadgets or technobabble popping up in a movie that could have easily fallen into that trap. The cause of the infertility remains hidden, and only the effects are shown. Different people react to the situation differently and is well portrayed by the various actors in the movie. Clive Owen and the girl playing "Kit" does a great job throughout the movie trying to survive and reach a utopia called the "Human Project", hoping that her pregnancy will save mankind.
While the movie didn't engage me as much as I had hoped, I appreciate and admire Cuaron's mastery of making a movie as thoughtful, realistic, and depressing as this one. Don't get me wrong, it's a very well made movie in all aspects, but for me, the lack of any explanation and too many loose ends not tied up irked me a little. Overall, a strong movie that should be watched, but it could have been much better.