Children of Men... but why on a high-school production budget?

Rating: 1/10 (15 January 2007)

I feel that this film could have been so much better. The concept is amazing and it could have been so much more exciting and believable if they had shot it on more than a high school production budget (see my comments re props further down). I mean of course, as believable as a science fiction film could be. The reason I say this is because there are several elements in this film which you really can see potentially happening in the future if politics goes stark raving mad and society decides to denigrate to the extent of reverting back a couple of hundred years. But none of it is done convincingly. And it just feels like it takes one heck of a long time to get nowhere.
OK.. so the film is being marketed as starring 'Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore'... all names we are familiar with and giving the film that pre-audience prep designed to make you feel like you are setting out to see a real star laden blockbuster of a film.
I was happy with the prospect of seeing Julianne Moore with my fellow countrymen Clive Owen and Michael Caine star in a film widely touted as 'Blade Runner for the 21st Century (forgive them Ridley for they really don't know what they say!)... um... except Michael Caine was only in a few brief scenes then killed off... and Julianne Moore fared even worse... as leader of the Fishes she was killed off unceremoniously after her own few brief appearances. Which just left Clive Owen, who looked for the most part as if he had just graduated from the 'Zombie School of Acting' (along with Pam Ferris) and a relatively unknown cast of actors hobbling around for the greater part of the remainder of the film.
Don't misunderstand this comment... if the film was touted as 'low budget relatively unknown cast with star cameos' then at least you would be prepared to see the film on those merits... with no expectations of the Blade Runner type action and star studded scenes that you are lead to believe you are paying to see. Please... never mistake this film as a contender for the mantle on which Blade Runner rests... Blade Runner is a far superior film in almost every aspect.
The prop budget... in an ever evolving techno age society such as we live in, did the producers really think that the audience wouldn't be fooled by an old Citroen CX with a thinly disguised hood bra to make it look 'futuristic'! And a Fiat Multipla.... is this the future of automotive technology?. Even the rich guy had what looked to be a brand new Rolls Royce, yet it was an old model... will they still be making this car in 20 years time? Did vehicle procreation come to a standstill also? It's laughable. Please, if you are going to make a futuristic film then at least get or make appropriate props.
This is too funny.... in a world of stagnated pro-creation... cats can still have kittens!! I mean, if it truly has come to a standstill, what on earth was that kitten doing in the film! Was that an 18 year old kitten! Other 'simple mistakes' that should have been edited out were.. for instance... a woman trying to push a car uphill on her own in the mud to jump start it... have you ever tried that! I'm not even sure that this would have been believable if Mike Tyson had been pushing it...
And the ending... ahhh... poor Clive... even he doesn't make it to the end of the film without demise... which was not really necessary or essential to the plot... which kind of tails off into nothingness anyhow.
After sitting through this meager and bleak film, which felt like it was being shot with a handy-cam by someone who had just bought one but had not yet read the operating instructions... I'm still scratching my head wondering where all the high praise comments on IMDb are coming from.
Again, I feel that this was a fantastic story spoiled by bleak, cheap looking filming with unconvincing and somewhat low key performances which ultimately fell flat on it's backside due to... um... budget constraints? My disappointed sighs weren't the only ones I heard in the cinema... sadly. I expected more.