Disappointing

Rating: 7/10 (27 April 2010)

I think that your opinion of this film is going to greatly depend on your expectations beforehand. It seems that a lot of people went to see this film not expecting much and were pleasantly surprised by its intelligence and non-derivative execution.
However, having seen that this film was in the IMDb top 250 I came to it with somewhat higher hopes and came away slightly let down.
The plot is fine in so far as it goes and there are some nicely done set pieces - the giant shoot out among the street ruins is particularly impressive and realistic - but really the only outstanding performance is from Michael Caine. I don't remember a great deal about what the main characters motivations were and that doesn't say much for the strength of either the plot or the cast.
For me the most enjoyable section of the movie was in Jaspar's (Michael Caine's) house - there was some strong acting here and some humorous and effective scenes. But beyond that, I think that people who rate this film highly are doing it because they are impressed by the director's bleak and believable presentation of an anarchic future for mankind.
I concede that it is well done - but I don't believe that the plot or the acting match the strength of the visuals.
I don't think that this is a film I would watch again and that tells me that it is not deserving of its current ranking as a classic. I would rate it as above average - an interesting concept, nicely brought to the screen but with not enough depth to really draw me in.