Sweet Child in Time . Will You See the Light?

Rating: 7/10 (10 April 2008)

Various highly acclaimed and respected sources of criticism refer to "Children of Men" as the absolute greatest Sci-Fi movie since "Blade Runner". I can't really disagree with that, since I never was a big supporter of this particular classic, but still "Children of Men" isn't the unhinged new masterpiece everyone claims it to be. The grim atmosphere is great, the sets are greatly depressing, some details in the script are truly extraordinary, the abrupt plot twists are shocking and the acting performances are overall stunning. Yet, somehow, the wholesome simply doesn't feel as astounding and refreshingly original as it should. It's a good film, but in case you're familiar with obscure, often low-budgeted and apocalyptic themed B-movies of the late 70's/early 80's, Alfonso Cuarón's script has surprisingly little new stuff to offer you. Several of the main story lines in "Children of Men", like the infertility of the human race or Britain being the last remaining place of civilization (although), are often just smaller footnotes in Sci-Fi flicks of the old days. The first 30 or so minutes of the film are the absolute greatest. Chaotic images of several of the largest and most prominent cities of the world burning down, fascist soldiers aggressively preventing immigrants from entering the UK and a  downright brilliant  sub plot about the last born human being bombarded to a media figure and he himself, 19 years old, not able to cope with the unwanted attention. The real plot kicks off when Theo Feron, a totally antipathetic loner, is requested  commanded actually  by his ex girlfriend to escort a very special girl to safety because she carries in her womb the fetus that could represent mankind's final little string of hope for survival. Their journey together is long, full of lethal obstacles and literally no one can be trusted. At least as far as I'm concerned, "Children of Men" is definitely a showcase of style over substance. What distinguishes this film from the rest is Cuarón's extremely raw and uncompromising filming style. The cinematography is everything but fancy, with shaky camera movements and disturbing visuals, the characters are uncanny and behave utterly nihilistic and the action is merciless. Clive Owen, definitely one of the coolest and most talented breakthrough actors since the new Millennium, gives another stellar performance. Personally, I wouldn't rank this amongst the 250 greatest movies ever made, like the votes and ratings around here indicate, but it's certainly a film worth checking out for mature audiences.