Don't kill the messenger

Rating: 9/10 (14 February 2007)

Children of men is warning. It's an opinion from someone who is fed up with the state of the world and extrapolates his vision of today's world to a not too distant future.
The world today exists only out of sound bites and religious arrogance: The evil-doers, democracy, freedom, natural resources on and on and on.... Off course everyone knows God is on their side. They are right, everyone else is wrong. If THEY won't listen...lets bomb them.
But what if God decides to leave mankind altogether? That means everyone is wrong. What then? That's the main point of CoM. Mankind loses it's ability to procreate. This means ALL of mankind will be gone...within the next 70 to 80 years. Anarchy rules the world with the exception of Great Britain. The rest of the world is in chaos. Asylumseekers (white and black alike) try to get into Britain, only to be handled as third class citizens. Terrorists and activists say they are there to fight for the rights of illegals, but a closer look reveals they only care about themselves. CoM is not perfect, so is its script, but it tries to find a balance between art and entertainment. In a world filled with brain dead films like Click, My Super Ex Girlfriend or National Treasure, this film is a diamond. And the courage of its makers should be cherished.
Many people do not or will not like this film. That means they don't like today's world. They should be shocked when a coffeeshop is bombed - killing everyone inside, they should cringe when an activist is shot and dies. They should not like it when a supposed asylum seeker is yanked of a bus and blindfolded by armed men. But this is the world today. Why is it that we are shocked by a film (fiction) and are unaffected by news footage (real world)? To say that this filmmaker glorifies violence for entertainment, is to truly expose yourself as ignorant. Close your eyes, count to ten, change the channel and everything will be fine. Sorry, it won't. Open your eyes and take action. That's what Children of Men does.