Best Sci-Fi Film Ever Made

Rating: 10/10 (15 January 2007)

The only filmic dystopian effort that even comes close is Blade Runner which was the long standing number one until the release of this tour de force. While Blade Runner was the most stylistic and heartfelt piece prior to Children of Men, it just cannot contend with the likes of the new champion. COM has literally set the standard for not just sci-fi film-making but all cutting edge cinema from here on out.
Starting simply with the cinematography it is so superior to any action film to date with its gritty post-neo-realism style that forces the viewer to look seriously at the illusion being presented. While Blade Runner's neo-noir style has truly stood the test of time and remains an important piece to this day, it pales in comparison to the rawness of COM. Of course the only reason that I can say this is because of the nature of the story and script, both of which dictate such texture and technique as is so perfectly executed in the film.
Next, the story and time dynamic are so tightly wound around the premise which might at times seem (like most sci-fi) a little convoluted, only because it is somewhat forced in the way that there are no exceptions to the war torn environment, and the inability of the entire human race to bare offspring. Coupled with the fact that only humans are effected by this plight, makes for a slightly less than fathomable existence. None the less, once the film gains momentum, which it quickly does, the pacing becomes so dynamic that it literally is one part of the cinematic tripod holding the film in perfect balance. The other two being of course the cinematography and the highly detailed and extremely well thought out plot. Each piece of information revealed or withheld is so precisely calculated and that with the dialog that is so plausible, animated, and fortified with wit obtainable by the average educated viewer, aids in powering this film into the position of possibly the number one movie ever made, period(especially if you enjoy the sci-fi genre, which, let's face it is becoming more and more relevant everyday).
Getting back to the tripod that these vehicles of storytelling form, it is clear that the what these stays are holding up is the root of all good narrative films: the performances.
Through out the entire film there is not one actor who didn't hold his or her own, helping weave together an intricate correspondence and rapport of such diverse and complicated characters the likes of which have not been seen in any Sci-Fi film, or even that many dramatic films made since the beginning of the theatrical motion picture.
There is not any one reason that I gave this film a ten out of ten, despite the graphic violence (which, if you ask me fit the piece in a way that violence has not been suited to a theme in film in a long time) but only a complex matrix of supporting threads which weave together this outstanding parable of hope in a world that has lost everything. Go see this movie as soon as humanly possible. It will change your life, and the way you view narrative film.