Fantastic execution of a mediocre script from a so-so idea.

Rating: 6/10 (21 January 2007)

OK, so Alfonso Cuaron is a great filmmaker and this movie is worth watching if only for the stunning camera-work and the action choreography which sometimes goes on for blocks and blocks. There are a couple of set pieces which I won't spoil here that are right up there with the best of Spielberg and Hitchcock.
Unfortunately, the plot has more holes than Swiss cheese. As someone said before, why not try cloning? And why can dogs and chickens procreate, but not people? And on and on it goes. The story is also kind of too simplistic -- "The revolution has started!" I mean, isn't that what the Marxists were saying about the revolution 70 years ago? Also, I personally detest dirty movies, that is, movies where everyone is filthy from beginning to end, the sets are completely polluted from beginning to end, everything seems to reek of smoke, booze, bombs, urine and feces,and where there isn't a trace of humor. Movies about the future like this one make me long for the "shopping malls" of Logan's Run (well, not really, but almost). The relentless grit made me itch from about 10 minutes on.
I give it a 6 and say, wait to see it on DVD. I hope that a great filmmaker like Alfonso Cuaron will find a better script next time.