I wasn't expecting the film to affect me so much

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2007)

I usually do not respond intensely to films of future dystopia, so I was not expecting much when I went to Children of Men. But my heart was racing while watching this movie, and my mind is still reeling with its images and depictions of Britain as a war zone of refugee camps, random violence, omnipresent police, religious sects and the disillusion of humans who for a generation haven't heard a newborn baby's cry. I'm sure my strong reaction to the film comes in part from the breathtaking camera-work, including several exceptionally long takes during action sequences which must have been incredibly difficult to shoot. Yes, there are plenty of explosions, stray bullets and blood, but the technical effects entailed are not what draws one's attention.
To avoid being a spoiler, I can't share all the various images and features of the action that add up to one of the most unsettling, apocalyptic visions I've ever seen. But I will say that part of their effectiveness comes from these being presented as a given, not something to be laboriously explained. Clive Owen gives an excellent, understated performance as a once-idealistic bureaucrat propelled into a battle. This film would be pretty awful if some sort of hammy Hollywood actor like Tom Cruise were in the lead. But such an actor was not chosen because this film has far more intelligence in the making than most.