Actors: Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi, Michelle Hussain, Rob Curling, Jon Chevalier, Rita Davies
Directors: Alfonso Cuarón
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Language: English
Region: Region 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number of discs: 1
Rating R
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Release Date: March 27, 2007
Run Time: 110 minutes
Blame this one on Marshall!
I was listening to his pod casts and he did a review on Children of Men and it reminded me just how much I disliked this movie.
Children of Men could have been so much more and still managed to get its message across if they wouldn't have tried so hard to force feed the message. To make sure that everyone is inundated with the director's political agenda, the special features feel like extreme propaganda. The meaning may be valid, but it feels like a cult brain washing.
The cast had some big names like Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore (who played... Julian, how original!)
Everything is covered, Global Warming, evil governments, mankind as a whole as generally self destructive and, well evil! Even SUV's get blamed in the special features.
In the end this was just way too heavy and too preachy for me. The ending was even a let down. All the build up, or I should said hard work at attempting a build up just fizzles out like a match in the rain.
I agree that it was shot in a artsy film nor kind of way, but other than that I can't really say much about it that I liked. I happen to really like Clive Owen a lot and seeing him as the lead actor, and after hearing rave reviews I did blind buy on this one. This is the reason to rent movies first if you aren't sure, but so many people raved about this one...
To begin with, I'm not very big on pretentious movies that have a political message. Movies should be entertainment and some do manage to pull off social commentary along with a good story. This was neither.
The movie starts in a not so distant future where for some unexplained reason the human race has lost the ability to reproduce. The movie starts out with some promise and hope of a good action thriller. I kept waiting to find some secret about Theodore Faron (Clive Owen)- like he was some sort of James Bond gone bad character, or ex-military intelligence, I would have even settled for a former circus clown, something, anything... but alas he's just an ex-political activist.
Theo does have a past, one he would rather forget. The movie would have faired much better if that was explored some more, but the special features really filled in the gaps that the movie only manages to glaze over. Sorry I was being sarcastic. I didn't learn anything about the movie or characters, but I did find out that we all deserve the future the director depicts.
Theo is reluctantly thrust into the role of protector. He has to get a young woman who has become pregnant and is the world's 'last hope' to safety. They have to make their way through a war torn society of repressive governments and back stabbing hoodlums to a group of scientists and doctors that are rumored to be floating around the ocean on a big ship that doubles as a science facility.
The film is dark, moody and preachy. The special features only confirm that the director had more of a mission and message than a story to tell.
The dialog is flat and lacked any sense of realism or punch.
Jasper (Michael Caine)-Offering Miriam a joint
Everything is a mythical, cosmic battle between faith and chance.
Miriam (Pam Ferris)
Maybe I shouldn't.
Jasper
You already did. Take another one. Now cough. What do you taste?
Miriam
Strawberries!
Jasper
Strawberries? That's what it's called: Strawberry Cough!
Jasper
So. You've got faith over here, right? And chance over there.
Miriam
Like yin and yang.
Jasper
Sort of.
Miriam
Or Shiva and Shakti.
Jasper
Lennon and McCartney!
There are more scenes and dialog pertinent to the plot, but it's not much better than that.
I actually watched this movie twice thinking maybe I was distracted the first time, or maybe it was just 'so good' I couldn't comprehend it or 'get it' the first time around. I can honestly say I could watch this one a hundred times and still wouldn't like it.
No Stars for this one. I'd actually give it negative stars but there is no icon for that. If you want the same feeling but don't want to sit through 110 minutes of constant reminders of how rotten the human race can be, save your time and money and hit your self repeatedly with a hammer while having the person you dislike the most in life recite every reason they despise you.