CHILDREN OF MEN

Alfonoso Cuaron is a director I have loved from his independent foreign work as the director of Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001) to his more commercial work as Harry Potter Prizoner of Azkaban (2004). This work is no exception as he again balances the line between commercial work with an independent flair similiar to what he did with Harry. In Children Cuaron pulls off some brilliantly long take shots like the opening and the dramatic camera in the car chase scene which must have taken forever to film. The film takes an interesting approach and uses these extended takes to create a documentary type feel which brings you into this somewhat futeristic world. CGI is also effectively used throughout the film with the stand out achievement being the effects used to create the baby...(wait have you seen this film...yet now i feel bad if you haven't seen this movie though i think you have...)...if you haven't um...i won't spoil anything...the acting is also superb. The problems I have though are with the story and the characters. Even with everything Cuaron does I still find it difficult to get into this world which really I don't think should be difficult to get into based on the trick Cuaron uses and the fact that it isn't very far in the future...I think we aren't given enough background information to see how such a future could come about. This lack of background I think also extends over to my appreciation of the characters which seem like fleshed out characters without a deep history. I give the movie an 8/10.

8/10