A Cutting Edge, Action Packed, Thinking Mans Action Film!

Rating: 8/10 (17 January 2007)

The film is set in 2027. For the past 18 odd years the human race has been unable to have children. Full Stop.
This is all that is explained about the narrative during the film and this is all within the first 10 minutes. The film does little to explain what has happened, what is happening and what is going to happen after the film finishes. Normally, this would leave me feeling rather empty and unsatisfied, and whilst i would have liked more in terms of narrative throughout the film, what is included is prime viewing and delivers a very intense and gritty masterpiece that is as unrelenting in its imagery as it is compelling to watch.
The style of the film mirrors this lack of information. We don't know what happened to make the human race infertile because its irrelevant to what is happening on screen. With this film, you only know what you see and what you see is what you get.
First off, the aesthetics of the film are superb. Very gritty, very gloomy and most likely filmed on DV, with a similar look to 28 Days Later. If that gives you any frame of reference this darkish aesthetic almost mirrors the doom and gloom evident in the peoples lives intentionally feelings like Death, Poverty and oppression are mirrored using this medium. The obvious use of DV in the films plentiful action scenes gives the film a dimension of intensity as seen in the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan and the chase scenes in 28 Days Later.
The director manages to carry the film with a steady pace. It progresses well and not once was i left wandering where the film was going, which is strange seeing as we do not really know the ultimate objectives of the main characters. By that i mean we know where they are going but we do not know why or what is going to happen afterwards.
There are many many political references throughout the film. I do not care about politics enough to get into depth but the underlying morals and political references are clearly used to stimulate Leftist propaganda. There are obvious references to the Holocaust, Talitarian governments, Terrorists aka "Freedom Fighters", White oppressors, Lesbians, Black Saviours and many more. This doesn't ruin the film in any way and is actually used to good effect in order to create the feeling of oppression that is essential in carrying the film and its underlying moral narratives. But if proper propaganda annoys you, this film may be a little hard to take. But its a film, a cutting edge, action packed thinking mans film. A compelling watch from start to finish and if you like film to be slightly different and modern whilst being highly entertaining then i would seriously recommend Children of Men to anyone. ANYONE! 8/10 - It would be nine but i do feel that a little bit of an introduction and conclusion would have gone a long way to explaining the narrative and and ultimately giving the film a much more satisfactory conclusion.