The baby is a miracle, but 'Children Of Men' is stillborn

Rating: 5/10 (1 August 2014)

There's no explanation as to why the planet's women have been afflicted with infertility. There's no explanation of how just one woman has become pregnant after 18 years without a child being born. There's no explanation of why the miraculously pregnant woman must reach something called the 'Human Project'. There's no explanation of why, at this time, the activists are trying to stage an uprising. There's no explanation of why they need, or think they need, the pregnant woman's baby in order for their uprising to succeed. There's no explanation of why the UK, albeit transformed into a fascist society, alone of the Western nations seems to have avoided falling into a state of anarchy.
So, we're left with a simple jeopardy film set against a sea of unexplained circumstances. The hero fights to transport the pregnant woman to a boat whilst being hunted by both government forces and the would-be revolutionaries; he succeeds but at the cost of his own life and those of his friends. The first half of the film plods along whilst it puts a few plot devices in place. The second is faster paced and generates a modicum of tension. However, at the end you are left thinking "what was all that for and what happened next?".
It's almost as if somebody scripted a great story about a dystopian future and somebody else was briefed to strip all the interesting stuff away and leave a fairly brainless 'damsel in distress' film in its place. What results is a poor, poor effort.