Review for "Children Of Men"

Rating: 8/10 (17 July 2011)

Alfonso Cuaron's "Children Of Men" takes place in the not-too-distant-future where every woman is infertile and world order is on the brink of collapse. Theo Faron (Owen), a conflicted diplomat, is kidnapped by his ex-wife and revolutionary (Moore) to escort a refugee to freedom. However, what Theo doesn't know is that this refugee is in fact a pregnant woman. Thus, a epic and provocative quest ensues. In this world nearly every country's government has fallen. Therefore, as the only nation left standing, the U.K. must deal with millions of illegal immigrants trying to take refuge within their country. This prompts the U.K. drop into a militarized police state where violence and death are commonplace. Interesting enough, what I enjoyed most about this movie was the atmosphere. The world in "Children Of Men" is so disquieting, and so scary. You can tell that the art directors really took an extensive amount of time to make this setting look as dreary as it's supposed to be. The setting's bleakness is accentuated with really appropriate lighting. However, the cinematography also offers some really beautiful shots of the ravaged U.K. The screenplay is really well written, and it is performed equally as well. Clive Owen really shines in this roles, and Michael Caine plays a character that has a bundle of hilarious lines. Another aspect of this film that I admired is the fact that Cuaron utilized single-shot. This means that when the crap hits the fan for Clive Owen and Co. the cameras never stop rolling and the whole sequence is filmed in one single take. Which brings me to another aspect of "Children Of Men" that I enjoyed - the final sequence of the film. This film's final sequence used the aforementioned action scene technique and it also features a really interesting yet spoilerish dynamic that I can't share. You'll just have to watch it yourself. Overall I felt that "Children Of Men" was an awesome piece of speculative fiction that effectively serves as a cautionary tale for everyone to take seriously.