Children of Men
I may be in the vast majority here (and judging by the 91% rating on rottentomatoes I am) but I was not overly impressed. I've read multiple reviews calling the movie "fast paced" and I'd have to agree. The problem is that the film is fast paced because they seem to be trying to squeeze too much information into too little time. There are two big problems with adapting a book into a film, you either cut too much out (leaving the story impossible to follow) or you put too much in (leaving no time for actual development). This movie falls prey to the later of the two. Sure it gives a nice sense of urgency to everything, but it also leaves little time for a back story or anything else. I would have almost preferred to see this as a mini-series as opposed to a single film. Maybe then more of the actual story could have been explored.
The movie does has a very nice cast with Clive Owen, Julliane Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Michael Caine, but there isn't enough time to actually develop all of them. You get bits and pieces of each, but not enough of an glimpse that you can really relate to them.
So let's talk about the story here. In the future the people have become infertile (at least the women have apparently), which I guess has driven the world insane (not really explained fully), except England is still (semi)functional but they have great disdain for foreigners and round them up and put them into camps and/or kill them. However there is one woman who has been found to be pregnant and must be escorted safely to an organization that we are told nothing about (other than their name: Project Human?) which will somehow save us all? Maybe there's a good reason for all of this, but for me it just seems like pointless chaos without proper explanation. And for those reviewers who claim "it is a terrifying vision of the future, all the more gripping for ringing so true," what are you talking about? The main problem with the future that seems to be presented in the film is that people can't have babies anymore. I'm personally unaware of that becoming a problem any time soon. Sure there is the issue of illegal immigration, but that seems to be more of a setting for the movie (in the "refugee camp") than anything else. (Although I must find it humorous that "homeland security" ships all the immigrants off to "sex hill refugee camp.")
The one good thing in the film was the action sequence of Owen making his way through the camp overflowing with violence at every turn as the millitary and rebels are fighting. The single camera shot as Owen works his way through cover and around gun fire is fantastic. But, it feels like a cut scene from a new first person shooter, not a shot from a film. It's something that I want to play, not watch.
Perhaps my biggest problem is that I've seen/read too many dystopic views of the not so distant future, and this one just doesn't stand up to that in my eyes. Give me V For Vendetta over this anyday.
RATING: Worth a Dollar Theatre Ticket, Worth a Netflix Rental (if only for the scene of Owen working through the camp).