Not so easily fooled

Rating: 2/10 (22 November 2006)

This film reminded me of my days in film school in London. There were a great majority of wealthy background students who were overambitious and inaccurate with their projects. Children of Men is like one of those projects. The idea for the film is excellent, but only truly obtainable on a big budget. Children of Men fails to convince on a number of counts. While the filming is polished, the sound is well mixed and there are C list actors, the budget just hasn't stretched far enough to pay for a realistic backdrop. Using Michael Caine instead of paying for realism wont sell the film to me. The main big fault is the fact that the cars are present day models, with added bits of plastic to make them look "futuristic". While this may fool the average American who hasn't seen these models of vehicles day to day, the average British person isn't so easily fooled. Imagine a Buick or a Chevrolet with a plastic elongated bonnet but the same standard features left elsewhere, and you get the picture. This brings the feel of the film right down to low budget level. Children of Men reminded me of that Australian (with fake U.S accents) TV programme - The Tribe. Watch it and see for yourselves.