Movie Review: Children of Men
Stars (Out of 10): 8
One Word Summary: Imaginative

       There hasn't been a more imaginative movie this year than 'Children of Men,” the story of a futuristic society in which women are no longer able to have children. Once powerful nations around the world have collapsed as citizens have lost the one thing they need more than anything else—hope—and England has taken an isolationist position, imprisoning all immigrants looking for a chance to live the rest of their lives peacefully. Theo, once an activist, has grown so hopeless that he no longer feels anything; that is until he's asked to help escort a woman pregnant with the first child to be born in 27 years to safety.

       Clive Owen headlines one of the best ensembles of the year alongside Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Michael Caine, who delivers his best performance in recent memory.

       Alfonso Cuaron is a visionary director who with 'Children of Men” beautifully crafts a gritty and violent dystopia. The world he creates is no far away Middle Earth, but it is rich and lavish in its simplicity. 'Children of Men,” aside from a mention of global warming, stays mainly apolitical, but Cuaron's London seems so real that the result is scary. The film is violent, but at no point does the violence seem gratuitous, it is all part of the director's vision.

The Bottom Line is that 'Children of Men” functions equally well as a fantastical action movie and an action-packed fantasy film. Cuaron brilliantly fuses mythology with current affairs to create a movie that isn't always perfect but is always eye-catching and entertaining.