Bleak, pessimistic and unlikely vision of the future

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2007)

This film borrows heavily from the dark, brooding apocalyptic sci-fi downers of the late 60's and early 70's like "Soylent Green" and "Planet of the Apes" with a touch of "Blackhawk Down" gritty realism thrown in for good measure. The basic plot consists of a journey with a protagonist who gives us very little reason to like, relate or sympathize with him.
He is a former radical who is reintroduced to a former flame (Julianne Moore) whom he met during his protest days. The manner in which he becomes involved with these terrorists is contrived and forced.
This future-world is littered with revolutionary and terrorist factions who have a desire for an "uprising" against a "big brother" police state. The missing fact and the only interesting storyline in the film is that mankind is barren, impotent and incapable of reproduction of the species. A single, teenage pregnant girl is discovered.
The protagonist becomes her protector and guides us through this future world on her journey to "The Human Project" and collection of enlightened souls who desire to save the human race. Exactly WHY they wish to save the human race is unclear. After all if humans are so noble and worthy of life why would their inevitable fate be a world divided into a despotic militarized regime and terrorist factions? It is the lack of any real alternatives that relegates this movie (and the anti-everything attitude of today's protesters)to utter irrelevance.