If you haven't seen the intricate thrills of 2006's CHILDREN OF MEN, you are in for an intelligent and exciting surprise.
Clive Owen is our everyman, scraping by in London in 2027. The world has turned ugly, with nearly every nation collapsing save Britain under the weight of constant terrorism, suicide bombers, and the criminalization of all immigration.
The film's opening shot is a brilliant, uninterrupted tracking shot of Owen going for a morning coffee. Once inside, the masses are grieving as they watch the breaking news of the youngest person on the planet dying. The entire world has grown sterile, without a birth in nearly twenty years. A sudden near death experience startles Theo (Owen) just outside the coffee shop, beginning a non-stop adventure for him and the viewer.
Theo is soon reunited his extremist ex, Julian (Julianne Moore) and reluctantly recruited to smuggle a young woman to the border.
Kee, the young woman, is carrying a very important secret and the possible secret to a calmer world. As Theo and Kee near the border, the film grows more intense, featuring incredible action scenes of intimate violence along with battles on an epic scale.
The scene in their car that starts with Moore and Owen popping a ping pong ball playfully back and forth and escalates into terror is so incredibly well shot that only upon multiple viewings do you realize the camera never stops moving, putting you dead center into the violence.
Director Alfonzo Cuaron went on to direct "Gravity" and his talent with the camera is on full display here.
The acting is superb. Michael Caine is terrific as Theo's secluded friend Jasper, an aging hippie and former political cartoonist with plenty left to say through words and actions.
Owen has never been better. The final battle in the apartment building is one of the best first person action sequences ever shot. It's exhausting and you'll feel like you are right there with Theo and Kee.
Emotional and action packed, CHILDREN OF MEN gets a smart & violent A.
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