Premise better than the movie

Rating: 6/10 (11 January 2007)

The Premise of this movie was excellent, the fact that there had been no births in the world for 18 years. The movie starts out encouragingly enough with news that the worlds youngest person, Diego who was a celebrity at 18, is dead.
****SPOLIER**** The plot falls away from there. There was no tension or deliberation when Theo decides to help Julian, which he knows will alter his life dramatically. Heck, he doesn't even know Kee is pregnant at that point. The movie seemed to gloss over that point.
The second thing that bothered me was the locking up of illegal aliens. OK, no babies born for 18 years, and the "big" focus of the government is keeping people out of the UK? First, don't you think that they would be focused on bigger things....like REPRODUCING! Also, if the population is dwindling, wouldn't you want as many people as possible in your country, considering that in 50 years no one will be left! It just didn't make sense.
****SPOILER**** Third, there was no clear reason as to why Luke and his gang wanted to kill Theo. I know it was necessary for the story to go forward, but they could have given a plausible reason for it.
Most importantly, the fact that no baby has been born in 18 years is so interesting, so chilling, that it should have been used more in the script...almost like a character unto itself. What happened to all the school teachers? What was society's plans for the next 50 years...when we would become extinct? What would happen to armies and sports teams in 20 years? Run by 50 year-old's? Even Theo's "London 2012" Olympic shirt could have been used by saying organizers of the Olympic games say 2040 is the last year of the games. Also, the reason why there was this mass infertility could have and should have been explored more. Miriam's character did touch on it in the school room, and it was reverting, but it left me with a feeling of wanting more.
****SPOILER**** Finally, this movie did have its moments, one dramatic one is the baby crying as all fighting stops. Soldiers fall to their knees as the sight of the first baby in 18 years. But as pleasing as that scene was, the end of the scene was as bizarre. How do hundreds of soldiers witness an infant for the first time in 18 years and then COMPLETELY IGNORE her when the fighting starts back up, leading to the final escape? All in all, the premise almost carries this movie...but I would be hard pressed to give it a thumbs up?