Children of Men

Just when all the nominees for award season seemed to have arrived, and predictably lined up firmly for their Oscar runs. One of the finest films of the year arrives with a thunderous blast.

Alfonso Cuaron delivers one of the most powerful, moving and profound films of the year with the stunning Children of Men.

The movie is a fascinating, and breathtaking experience that will have one shaking their head in impressive disbelief for days.

Even weeks.

Besides being perhaps the greatest directed movie of the year, the film features a production design which is possibly one of the most fantastic, disturbing, and remarkable accomplishments in film history.

There are scenes, and sequences in the film which are as jaw dropping, and awe inspiring as anything audiences will ever see in the history of film.

What's even more impressive (or depressing, depending on how one looks at the film) is that the film feels like a legitimate vision of the future.

This isn't Star Trek, Blade Runner, or even the excellent Clockwork Orange, where a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is required for viewing.

The events which transpire in this film feel like the direct result of the current path that the world, and it's government's are on right now.

Issues of global warming, terrorism, deteriorating health care, corrupt governments, racism against immigrants, passive indifference by most of society's view of politics, and it's leadership.

It all leads to this disturbing future.

So while watching the film, not only are we being fabulously entertained, the audience is consistently reminded how the harsh, careless, realities of today can lead to this bleak and disturbing future.

Wanna get a glimpse of the End of Days?

Get in line for Children of Men.

This powerful film takes place in the year 2027, where seemingly all hope for the future of humanity is lost. All governments are either violently out of control, or no longer in power.

Major cities now resemble the slums of border towns, and the only way to legally endure the harsh realities of the day is by living one's life in passive acceptance of the world's plight, or by legalized medical suicide.

To make matters even worse, humanity is no longer able to procreate.

The youngest human being on earth is eighteen years old.....and has just been stabbed to death.

Theodore Faron (played by an impressive Clive Owen) sleepwalks through his meager existence, until a run in with his ex-lover Julian Taylor (Julianne Moore) gets him unwittingly tangled up with the charge of protecting perhaps mankind's only hope.

A young, illegal immigrant named Kee, who is miraculously pregnant, played by the spirited Claire-Hope Ashitey.

In order to save humanity Theodore must escort Kee to a sea boat where a group called the human project can help solve the procreation problem.

The film is indeed bleak and dark, but surprisingly there are moments of much needed humor, touching character interactions, and refreshing messages of hope spread throughout the film.

But what makes the movie memorable, and extraordinary are the outstanding visuals, and remarkably choreographed action sequences.

Moments that are impossible to describe, and must be seen to believed.

In a meager, and rather generic attempt of a description, I'll state that during the film at times the viewer feels like they've been dropped into a war zone with the characters.

Literally.

I caught myself several times dodging on screen bullets, and debris.

Simply put the film is beyond a doubt one of the five best films of the year.

It's an excellent triumph for Alfonso Cuaron, who directed the best Harry Potter movie, the Prisoner of Azkaban, he throws down the gauntlet and establishes himself as one of the premiere directors working today.

The movie is an amazing accomplishment, I'll save myself the trouble and stop trying to describe my enthusiasm for the film.

I'll simply state that I can't recommend it any higher, and no amount of vocabulary will accurately describe the wonders one will see in this film.

Run out, and see it.

Now.