High expectations dwindle over the course of the film

Rating: 6/10 (14 July 2007)

Children of Men got a great deal of attention last year for its bleak portrait of a future Britain after a catastrophic epidemic has caused the sterility of every woman on the planet  but the attention was mostly for the political allegories embodied in the plot: roundups of illegal immigrants, refugee camps, a country ruled by the national security state, looming ecological crisis. The fact that the director was Alfonso Cuarón (Y Tu Mamá Tambien, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) brought the film even more attention. But seeing the film left me ultimately frustrated; my expectations were high at the beginning but dwindled over the course of the playing time.
The opening is positively enthralling  horrific, but enthralling. Simply becoming immersed in a society contemplating the future extinction of its species, and the political response to increasing hysteria, pretty much guarantees that you'll be compelled to watch. The story itself fades in comparison, despite strong roles by Clive Owen and Michael Caine. Julianne Moore has a surprising role as a leader in an underground organization that may be a terror group, but may also represent humanity's best hope for survival. The political allegory turns into a run-and-chase film, and then a bloody massacre in a squalid apartment block that looks like a cross between Gaza City and the Brixton of the 1970s. The ultimate scene takes the film in a mystical direction that I found unpersuasive.
Without giving away the plot points, I'll just say that I found the set design, cinematography, and sound direction enthralling (check out the Spanish-language version of "Ruby Tuesday"), but the story left me wanting more.