Children of Men

If you were bored with this movie then you were not paying enough attention. The detail put into the story (pay attention to what is happening in the background), film making (unbelievable pre-Gravity and pre-Birdman long takes), and philosophical concepts/allegorical criticism of our present day(watch the bonus features and documentaries on the DVD/BR).

One of the finest films ever made, full stop.

One of the greatest movies ever made.
The sound production is absolutely top tier.

This film was released on December 25. What do you _think_ it is about? A friend of mine insisted. Ah. New life. New world. Seeing, thinking and acting in a new way.

Somehow, rating Children of Men 10 stars doesn't feel quite good enough. This movie is exceptional at every level. On top of striking cinematography, a tight and well paced script, and great performances, the message of this film is powerful and relevant. Truly one of the best movies in modern history.

There might be a lot of 10/10 movies but very, very few absolute masterpieces like this.

This movie is set in a world that grows more desperate every day by the impending thought that one day the last person in the world will die of old age and the human race will cease to exist. All because for whatever reason (the movie never explains why it happened) children are no longer being born.

Most of the governments in the world including the USA have fallen. But the United Kingdom survived by turning into a totalitarian regime. What Europe once was for African immigrants is the UK now for the rest of the world, a safe haven. And to turn the citizens away from the governments own problems they made the immigrants the scapegoats. Immigrants are hunted down and killed just like cockroaches.

One of the immigrants is however pregnant and might be the worlds only hope at survival. Together with an old cop she has to get off the United Kingdom and to a group of scientist in the Amazons in South-America. But in order to get there they need the help of a resistance group who is fighting the government. But they want to use the pregnant woman for their own selfish reasons and its up to Theo Faron (Clive Owen) the old cop to protect the woman and get her safely off the island.

In order to fully understand the movie you have to see it 2 or even 3 times. The persecution of illegal immigrants is one of the main themes of this movie. Something that is being put high on the agenda these years of many wealthy countries in the world. There are also some clear references to Nazi Germany, for instance (according to Wikipedia) in the scene where British Homeland Security strips and beats illegal immigrants; a song by The Libertines, "Arbeit Macht Frei", plays in the background.

Overall i was overwhelmed the first time i saw this movie. I did not expect that level of action, quality and depth in the movie. This is without a doubt one of the best movies i have ever seen that came out of the United Kingdom.

It's been eighteen years since the birth of the last human child and civilization is barely hanging on by a thread. Clive Owen and Julianne Moore, members of a violent resistance movement, find themselves escorting the holy grail - a miraculously pregnant woman - through the dregs of a dystopian badland.

It's a great encapsulation of all the best elements of dark, future-gazing science fiction, hauntingly recognizable despite the distant timeframe. Owen is fantastic in a demanding leading role: part jaded worker-bee, part helpless victim, shattered widower, problem solver and action hero. The film moves incredibly quickly, delighting in its chances to shatter the illusion of tranquility with a jolting change of tone and fortune. One long, jaw-dropping shot in particular has stuck with me for years, even as details of the rest of the plot faded. If you've seen the film even once, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

And despite that breakneck tempo, it still somehow manages to work in a wealth of world-building details and delicate character moments. The action scenes are intense and vivid, the moral quandaries deeply disturbing, and its tenor is right on the mark. Epic, powerful sci-fi that teases a post-9/11 distrust of the government without overdoing it.