Rated: R
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Year: 2006
Boobs: One Pair
One Sentence: Could have been the best shot movie I have ever seen in my life.
Children of Men is two movies, or can be viewed in two ways. One is the political storyline, which could be discussed for days depending on your side of the fence, about the Earth, the environment and our lives and what we are doing to them with plastics, bad air, and car fumes. The other is the creation of the film, or how the film was shot. I will be mostly talking about the latter. Which is usually something I would completely skip over, because a normal movie viewer would not normally care about these things. However I think it must be addressed here.
This movie was amazing to watch. As I said above, quite possibly the best shot movie I have ever seen in my life. It seemed to take the realism of the Normandy Beach raid in Saving Private Ryan and raise the bar 1000 times. Amazing scenes that immersed you in the action and the location. I felt like I was there, I felt scared, and shocked and silenced. I have not felt this way about a movie in a long time. It felt more real, being 20 years in the future, than anything that takes place today. I took away this part of the movie and left the story of the movie, and walked away with what I wanted. Which was an amazing piece of film work. This is the type of movie they are talking about when they call it a film. From the opening scene to the very end, the pieces fit together, the story was amazingly big and so tiny all at once. No lack of quality in any shot. No questions about a particular moment. Just fine movie making. I think anyone that is looking for an amazing movie to watch, can just go see this movie just for that, and can not even take into consideration the story.
However the story too is something I think many will call a powerful look into our future. Is it possible, are we doing these things, what would happen to us, if we were stuck with such a "disease." The movie carries both the subject and the powerful imagery very well. Leaving us right when the movie should end, and will have us talking about it, and discussing the movie here and all over the internet.
The performances by all the actors were stellar as well, helping keep the realism of the shots and the power of the events as real as possible. Michael Caine was my personal favorite, however everyone did a wonderful job. Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Peter Mullan as Syd to name a few.
Alfonso Cuaron made me take notice of his film from a level I do not normally look at it. It showed what can be done when you take the time to portray your vision, and I felt he did so extremely well. I think ever shot that was shown to us, was exactly how he wanted it to feel and pushed himself into a level of director that is reserved for only the very best. I would defiantly add this movie to your queue, and if you were thinking about going to see it in the theater, I would highly recommend it.
