Disappointment of Men

Children of Men, C-

This movie had so much potential for a great story, but didn't come through at all. Mankind can't have children, but it's never really explained too well. Some girl has a kid, don't know why. We've got to get the mother to some place, not sure why. People get killed, not sure why. There's no tension, no obstacles to overcome - basically the Italian Job of "sci-fi."

Technical problems: the action one-take follow shot is great for war scenes, but not for a conversational scene. Shooting an entire movie in this look is disorienting and annoying. Sound design was atrocious as well, with every character having a crystal clear voice, despite being outdoors or in an echo-y corridor.

Acting by Clive Owen was very mechanical and emotionless. He was a reluctant hero, but had a permanent look of "What, where am I?" on his face. The rest of the cast was poorly developed, which really made me care very little when they were taken out of the storyline.

With my griping out of the way, let me touch on the good. The locations were beautifully gritty. All of the abandoned buildings and the refugee camp footage was very well put together. There was some good humor that broke up the film a bit and made it not so tedious to watch. Some good action sequences in there as well, and a bit of brutal violence that surprised me a little.

All in all, a film with a lot of potential that fell far short. It's hardly a sci-fi film, and its attempts to be artistic made it frustrating to watch.