I would describe Children of Men as a very good movie on the verge of greatness. It is a movie that I truly wanted to love, but something kept on holding me back. It certainly wasn't the direction of acclaimed filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron (Y tu mama tambien, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), who brings us a gritty and terrifying look at the future that instantly captivates. And it certainly wasn't the ideas that the movie holds, many of which are certainly intriguing. Maybe it's the fact that I was expecting something more than an action chase movie with some interesting ideas behind it. I'm not saying that the movie is bad or substandard, I'm simply saying I was expecting more focusing on the ideas, and less watching the heroes running away from gunfights. Children of Men is a fine movie as it is, but never comes across as being quite as fine as it should be, other than the visuals.

Set in the not-too distant future of 2027, Children of Men explores the notion of mankind on the verge of extinction, due to the fact that women have become sterile for the past 18 years. With no new children being born, and many major cities now in ruins due to war and anarchy, it would seem that humanity is on a single-minded march to a predetermined fate. The hero of our story is a somewhat depressed and worn individual named Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a man who simply goes through the phases of his life and his job day by day, only truly coming to life when he pays visits to his former hippie friend, Jasper (Michael Caine). Theo doesn't seem to care much that the city of London is falling apart around him, or by the news that the last child to be born into the world was recently murdered. He seems to have already accepted mankind's grim fate, and is merely marching to his waiting grave like everyone else. That all changes when he is forcefully recruited by a former lover named Julian (Julianne Moore). Julian is with a group of rebels against the government, and her group has something that could change the very path of the world itself - namely the first pregnant woman in almost 20 years. That woman is Kee (Claire-Hope Ashitey), and Julian wants Theo's help in gaining Kee safe passage through London so that she can reach a mysterious group called The Human Project, where both she and her baby will be safe. Unfortunately, Theo will quickly learn that it's hard to figure out who to trust when the world around you is falling into anarchy. Kee and the hope for the future that she holds within her inspire Theo to risk everything he has in order to see her to safety.

Loosely based on the novel by P.D. James, Children of Men is a movie that gives us an eerie and bleak vision of the future. Yes, most movies set in the future usually don't paint a pretty picture, but what director and co-writer Alfonso Cuaron does different here is that he creates an eerily accurate portrait of a world that is just beginning to crumble. The movie does not spend much time explaining or discussing why women can no longer give birth, or what led mankind to its current fate. It throws us right into the thick of things, seldom looking back, and only explaining just enough to get us up to speed. The London that Cuaron creates looks like a combination of war-torn London from World War II, and a futuristic society run amok. Many buildings are mere hollowed-out shells caused by bomb blasts from extremists or the government, refugees from other countries who are trying to enter London (one of the last standing major cities, according to this film's vision) are rounded up in mass cages and held at gunpoint, and everyone seems to have their own agenda, whether it be religious or for their own personal gain. The way that this film depicts this future is with the ferociousness and violence of a war movie, mixed with the wonderings of how the human race would slowly start to fall apart if it could no longer reproduce. The movie wants to be an action film with a brain, and for the most part, it succeeds. The scenes with Theo and Kee racing down the streets of London as gunfire explodes around them are as tense and exciting as any action sequence has ever been. Of course, to call this a mere action movie would be a disservice to what it tries to do. Not only does it bring forth some fascinating questions to ponder in its premise of a sterile world, but the movie itself is a wonder to look at. Many of the sequences are shot in an unbroken series of shots that are flawlessly edited, and will have many wondering how director Cuaron pulled them off seemingly so effortlessly. Not only is the film's vision of the future fascinating to watch, but there are many sequences throughout the film that are worth watching more than once, due to the expert way they have been shot. This movie is a visual wonder through and through.

What I believe holds the film back from the true greatness it strives for is at the very core of the script itself. Aside from a couple stand outs, many of the characters are sketchy, or have murky motivations. It also never quite digs quite as deep as I thought it should in some areas. I understand its desire not to fully explain the cause of the disease, but other areas of the story seemed a bit too underdeveloped for their own good. The Human Project group that the heroes are so desperately trying to reach are kept in a very underdeveloped light, and never quite explained as to what they would do for Kee and her child once they arrived, or how they would manage to keep them safe. I also thought they could have gone a bit deeper into Theo's desire to aid the woman and her unborn child. Yes, there is Julian, and the movie seems to hint that part of the reason he is so determined to help is because he lost a child of his own to a flu epidemic. But, a true relationship between Theo and Kee is never truly built. They never seem to truly bond, because they spend a vast majority of the film running from people trying to kill them. That's what disappointed me the most about Children of Men. Though it is consistently well made and entertaining, it never quite fully explores its own ideas, and instead opts to set up chase scenes or violent shoot outs. We don't get to enjoy the vision of the future or the ideas behind it quite as much as I think we should have, because the movie hardly gives the characters a chance to catch their breath. If they're not running from violent rebels or traitorous former friends, they're stuck in the middle of a bloody street gunfight. Though it never harms the film so much that I found myself not liking it, I was constantly left craving for something a little bit more.

That's not to discredit any of the performances in the film, which are fine throughout. Clive Owen makes for a likeable beaten down everyman who is forced to look within himself in order to be the hero that Kee needs in order to protect both her and her child. He is vulnerable and honest in his portrayal of Theo during the film's more quiet moments, and he comes across as an unlikely but feasible hero during the more action-heavy sequences. As Kee, relative newcomer Claire-Hope Ashitey is a quiet and strong presence, making her believable as a woman who holds mankind's future. I only wish the script had given us a closer look at her character, as her dialogue seems to be limited. In supporting roles, Michael Caine comes across the strongest, and seems to be having a lot of fun in his small but important role as one of Theo's few friends. His sense of humor that he brings to the character is a welcome bit of comic relief to a movie set in a world that is mostly dire and without hope. Julianne Moore has less to do as the woman from Theo's past, but she makes the most out of her limited role and screen time, and is still able to create a likeable character that we can understand Theo following into a potentially dangerous situation.
Children of Men works on a lot of levels, but doesn't seem to be quite as strong in some others. Perhaps it's the result of having too many screenwriters working on the script. (I counted a grand total of five writers listed in the credits.) All I know is that although I liked the movie a lot, I was left with the feeling that I could have liked it even more. The movie is definitely worth watching, especially for its visuals and the ideas that it presents. It's also a movie that's bound to create some serious discussion afterward. If the movie had just gone a bit further with its own ideas, I think the discussions this movie will cause could have been even greater. Children of Men is a fine, but flawed, film. The emphasis here is on fine.