Children of Men is an apocalyptic sci-fi drama/thriller that stars Clive Owen as Theo, a former activist who lives in a world of terror due to the fact that women have stopped being able to reproduce. This causes society’s crumble, and now the only country with police is England. Anyone that survived the destructions of their countries come to England. Instead of a warm welcome, they are brought into concentration camps, and some are killed en masse right when they arrive. Theo, after having dinner at his friend Jaspar’s (Michael Caine) house, is kidnapped by a political group headed by his ex-lover, Julian (Julianne Moore). She needs him to get passports for a girl, Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), who needs to get on a boat in order to get to the Humane Society, a think tank derived of geneticists theorizing on how to save the world. Theo gets the passport, and after discovering Kee’s pregnancy (and thus the urgency of her survival), spends the movie running from police, terrorists, and rebels trying to escort Kee and her caretakers to the boat.
Children of Men is an exceptional piece of work. Clive Owen is fantastic at switching from droll to exciting in a second, and Michael Caine is an absolute treat as a hippie who rides the line of sanity and eccentricity wonderfully. Claire-Hope Ashitey, though she does not have a lot of lines, is a great choice for the first pregnant woman in eighteen years. The brooding devastation that happens throughout the movie is not unlike Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, where you cringe at every misfortune, and begin truly needing something good to happen. The gloom is lifted by Michael Caine, and perhaps the best character in the entire movie, Syd (Peter Mullan). Syd is a customer of Jaspar’s drug dealings, and when Theo and Kee need a way into a prison camp for immigrants, Syd is the man for the job. He’s quirky, crazy, and refers to himself in the third person. He is perfect as a comedic relief in an otherwise bleak movie.
There are a couple of what I would call letdowns in the movie. The beginning of every new scene starts off slow, which would normally be fine, but the end of the previous scene is usually action packed, and it causes some pacing issues. Also, the ending was very Titanic-esque, in the fact that after an hour of great action, there’s about ten minutes of just dialog. These are minor things however, and you’ll really only notice them after watching a second time.
I would say you need to see this movie. Right now, if not sooner. It’s a terrific mix of depressing apocalyptic society, increasingly hectic action, and a good spots of humor put in. I’ve seen it twice, and am going to see it a third time. Why? Because it’s just that good.
You can find this movie on 123movieshub alongwith many other classic films of different genres which you can relish during your leisure time.
