Science fiction at its best

Rating: 9/10 (9 January 2007)

I just saw this movie by myself. Now I have no one to talk to about it. So I'm writing these comments before my head explodes.
I won't go into the details of the plot, the acting, or the cinematography, as other people have already done that here better than I could - I just wanted to add a few points about what the film said to me.
Even though everything in the film is so damn depressing, and the world is so horrible, and we're all going to die, no really, we are all going to die, I loved the way that hope was allowed to exist - not as a blinding beacon across a battlefield, but as a subtle nudge or affectation, the winking eye of God.
Think kitty getting friendly with Theo's leg, or the sheep dogs who never liked anyone else - they can see the destiny that Theo is literally soaked in (or maybe it's the whiskey?)
This is very much like the story of Pandora's Box - after all the evil, scene-stealing nasties came out, there was one tiny, fragile creature left that managed to escape without anyone seeing it. Zeus could be a bit of a **** sometimes, but even he realized that hope could never be sacrificed.
Cor blimey, Pan's Labyrinth last week and now Children of Men this week! Go Toro! Go Cuaron! What the hell do they put in the tequila in Mexico anyway? I've just seen two of the best movies I've ever seen in my life in as many days, and deep down I'm sad because I know it's going to be a while before I see any movies this good again...
And what is it with Britain being the 'last nation standing' after an apocalypse? They did the same thing in V for Vendetta! Hello? If the bombs start a-dropping, I bet the safest place in the world will be my grand-dad's sheep station in the south of New Zealand!