Watch the Movie, Ignore the Politics, Skip the Bonus Features.

Rating: 7/10 (28 July 2007)

Children of Men is a dark, violent, beautifully filmed and action packed science fiction film. It is also one of the most original (aside from the politics) and enjoyable films I've seen from 2006. Unfortunately, it is heavily politically charged to the point where it's trying to drive its messages home with the force of an asteroid crashing into a celestial body. That's not exactly a spoiler there as it gets to the preachiness right off the bat. It's annoying and worse off, as typical extreme Left media projects often are (from TV to print media to websites to film etc.) it's highly exaggerated, highly anti-American and highly knee-jerk.
But, that's OK. This is science fiction with the emphasis on FICTION. I was able to ignore the politics and enjoy the documentary style cinematography, the suspense and the script that remains crisp up until about the last 20 minutes where it bogs down.
What made it easy to ignore the politics was the fact that they can't even get their message straight. There's a heavy pro-illegal immigration (a.k.a. open borders) feel throughout the movie. What's funny is the whole state of the World depicted is actually an argument AGAINST illegal immigration. The England depicted here is apparently one of separate factions of roving gangs and militias all representing separate ethnic groups who all seem to want something different. Translation: No one wants to integrate into the society they entered, they want the society to conform to them. That can't happen and this movie does a great job depicting what could happen in such a world of open borders.
There's also mention of a Flu pandemic. Guess what guys? That's another negative side to the open borders philosophy. That's the reason Tuberculosis and even The Plague is starting to make a comeback in the United States after having been eliminated for years. I know a great big hug to cure those maladies would be nice, but it's not going to happen.
Throw in some veiled references to global warming and an anti-Capitalistic message and you've got the whole extreme Left playbook.
What? You don't believe me? I don't recommend the "The Possibility of Hope" bonus feature on the DVD, but if you deny anything I've written above about the messages in this film, check it out. It will confirm everything I've said and more.
Perhaps you enjoy a good laugh, especially after such a dark film. Then you also might be interested in the tripe being spewed throughout that same bonus feature if you have 30 minutes of your life to throw away. It's almost like a comedy skit that goes on way too long. The evil music with the long panning shot of the White House. Speaking about "fear" while showing a shot of a memorial wall emblazoned with the phrase "Freedom is not Free." Blaming all the world's troubles on global warming...at least when it's not blaming America. All that was missing was the 1-800 number where you can order your Home Leftist kit complete with Che Guevara T-Shirt, American Flag pre-soaked with gasoline, lighter and a copy of "The Wit and Wisdom of Karl Marx." Maybe that was at the end. My bad. I couldn't sit through the whole thing.
At this point, you must be saying, "Wait a minute! I thought you started off this review saying you liked this movie. Plus you gave it a rating of 7 out of 10." Good call my friend. You're correct. I did like this movie and believe it or not I actually have to recommend it. While it's political to a fault, there are enough good points to overshadow all that hokum. Again, this is Science Fiction and nothing more. Leftists will probably walk away with a smug sense of self-satisfaction. Those who stand to the center and the right will chuckle at the now trite political statements regurgitated from yet another film. But it's an absorbing 1:48 minutes of film and an intriguing suspense story that ultimately overshadows the politics.