Brikar

CHILDREN OF MEN
STARRING: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor
WRITTEN BY: Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby - from the novel by PD James
DIRECTED BY: Alfonso Cuaron

In the future, humanity has become infertile. The world is in chaos; terrorism is rampant, many major cities have been devastated (it is implied but never shown that New York City itself is gone). Britain has closed its borders and is in the midst of a huge push to rid itself of illegal immigrants (referred to as "fugees", short for refugees). Suicide kits are available from the government for anyone who wants them... but Pot is still illegal.

Clive Owen plays Theo, a 9-to-5 Joe Schmoe who used to be a political activist, but now, having lost his drive and ambition, floats through his life as the world crumbles around him. One day, just after the world's youngest person is stabbed to death after refusing to sign an autograph, Theo is kidnapped by his ex-wife who is still very political. In fact, she's the leader of an underground group that is working toward getting the government to recognize the rights of illegal immigrants.

It seems that after 18 years, someone has gotten pregnant. This is Kee, a young black black girl. Theo is charged with getting her out of the country to meet with a group of people known as The Human Project, a mythical group of scientists who live freely in the Azores. Theo wonders why they didn't make the pregnancy public, and we find out why: the government would never allow the first baby born in 20 years to be from a "fugee". So Theo takes Kee on the run into a hostile world filled with people who might or might not help them. Having a baby has become the most dangerous thing anyone could possibly do.

"Children of Men" is a fantastic sci-fi thriller. The performances from the cast are great. Michael Caine's character Jasper is both funny and tragic, and well outside what we're used to seeing from him. He's a crass, pot-smoking ex-activist who likes to tell "pull my finger" jokes. He's lovable, and real. Clive Owen does well as the leading man who is slowly brought out of his apathy to rediscover why he used to be so impassioned about making the world a better place. Along the way, Theo and Kee meet a number of lively and interesting characters on both sides.

The world is rendered beautifully and fully. We don't get a lot of expositional information, and yet we understand fully how things work in this world. There's lots of little details sprinkled throughout the entire picture that really give you a wonderful sense of this grim future. The antagonists in the picture are never painted as black-hat evil, nor is anyone truly white-hat good, either. Instead, peoples' motivations are either incredibly complex or very simple - they're motivated by politics, or by emotions. Either way, everyone comes across as very real - and some of them are really scary.

The direction and cinematography are top notch, even if the rest of the movie didn't hold up. Most of the film's pivotal scenes are done as long takes, with the camera following behind the characters and only getting glancing looks at the wider world around them. The climax of the film is gripping and extremely well-staged. Digital effects are seamlessly integrated into the film and instead of being used as a "gee whiz" aspect, are always used to enhance the feeling of a futuristic world - moving billboards, etc.

There's also a fantastic soundtrack, filled with songs like "Ruby Tuesday" and "Bring on the Lucie".

Highly, HIGHLY recommended. Loved this film.

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