This week, I plan on getting through 3 movies on Netflix that are going to expire on December 1st. I decided to choose the first one using the highest RT Score and it happened to be Children of Men. I’ve read a few positive reviews about it recently so it was one I had already planned to watch. Knowing that Alfonso Cuaron, director of Gravity that I recently watched, loved and reviewed HERE was also the director for this one made it even more motivating. Lets check it out!
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Cast: Clive Owen, Michael Caine, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Pam Ferris, Clare-Hope Ashitey
In 2027, the youngest member of the population Baby Diego dies at the age of 18. There hasn’t been a child for eighteen years as the women have become infertile. This causes chaos. An activist group has now found a miracle and their leader, Julian (Julianne Moore) seeks the help of her ex-husband Theo (Clive Owen) to help get papers to help them transport a pregnant girl, Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) to the Human Project, a refuge on the sea that tries to find a way to build up the population again.
Children of Men was an unexpected choice for a Saturday night Netflix pick. I hadn’t intended on seeing it but it turned out to be a very good futuristic chase thriller. Children of Men is well-rounded with a thought-provoking script, a good amount of action, and portrayed with a great cast.
I’m a huge fan of the cast. I’ve seen some decent works from Clive Owen before (with one exception being The International *grimace*) I hate that one but in general, he’s great at these sort of thriller roles with a bit of action and suspense, fighting for a cause, etc. He’s a pretty great actor and most of the time, he pulls me into the story effectively. In this one, he plays Theo, a man that numbs his life with alcohol after his son passed away years ago. He doesn’t really care much about whats going on but he gets pulled into this whirlwind of crazy when he decides to help his ex-wife and realizes that he’s in something that seems to be more than it actually seems.
My favorite part of the cast is Michael Caine. Stick him in any movie and he usually is my fave part. He is a phenomenal actor and in this one, he has some funny lines to loosen up the pretty tense situation. Although, the supporting actors and actresses didn’t get such a crazy amount of screen time, they did contribute in their small way with their great acting to give some substance to the thriller. Julianne Moore had that same sort of effect.
Overall, Children of Men is an engaging thriller that touches on an interesting story about a possible future where humans are bordering extinction. The drama and the struggle behind keeping mankind alive to bring hope for the future. Although even now, I haven’t quite figured out if the first 30 minutes was just slow so it felt long or it was so much information overload that I felt tired. But I promise, the following hour after that is pretty awesome! Plus, I didn’t know Alfonso Cuaron by name until Gravity but suddenly I realized he also made one of my fave parts of Harry Potter (I love the 3rd one). So yes, I do recommend this 🙂
Are you a Clive Owen fan? Whats your favorite role of his? Did you see Children of Men?
Love this flick to death!!!! One of the best film’s I’ve ever seen. Terrific post! So Happy to hear you enjoyed it :).
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Yeah! Liked it a lot also! 🙂 Cuaron is quite an awesome dude, eh? I look forward to seeing what he does next 🙂
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What happened to Clive Owen? It looked like he was going to be big then he just kind of fell off the map.
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Bad movie choices? I just remember the last two movies before this one (which actually came out after this one) was pretty bad. Lets not talk about The International but Duplicity wasn’t all that great either….
Sad because he did some awesome movies!
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Good review Kim. I should have not watched this movie during the hot, summer day those couple years ago when I originally did. Not only did it ruin my day, but it just made me feel like I didn’t even need to much else that day. However, wasn’t a total waste because I got to see this flick and I am so happy for that. I truly am.
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Thanks! I sense of being grateful is how I understood what you just wrote? If not, well, thats how I felt!
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I remember being utterly depressed watching this. The only bright spot was Michael Caine like you mentioned. Loved his secret hideout, his hair, his upbeat personality. We needed more comic relief in this dark film.
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Yeah…it is pretty heavy. I’m starting to wonder if thats why after 30 minutes I felt it was so long. Seriously, right? Without Michael Caine, this movie would be probably too serious for its own good.
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I love Clive Owen, who has the most amazing eyes! He hasn’t been on screen in awhile, wonder if he’s doing stage stuff or television
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I looked at Clive Owen’s filmography for this review. I believe 2013 was the debut of a new TV series. I don’t remember the name but maybe you should check it out 🙂 Tell me how it is if you do!
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I thought Children of Men was a great movie. It made me think about how fragile our existence is.
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Definitely is! I felt the same way! Made me even more grateful for just being alive 🙂
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Great write up Kim! Everyone seems to love this but I haven;t got around to it yet. It’s creeping up my watch list though!
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Thanks!
You definitely should bump it up 🙂 Its pretty great!
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I’ve been meaning to see this, thanks for the reminder.
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Hi Kim, I hear ya about the info overload in the beginning but it’s one of those films that stayed w/ you for a long time and you realized just how deep and thought provoking it is. That’s what a great sci-fi should do.
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Definitely! I agree 🙂 I’m starting to think its just because of how heavy the content is…maybe its not really info overload.
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I found this one to be surprisingly better than I thought it would be. 🙂
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Awesome! 🙂
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Nice review. 🙂 This is a great film.
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Thanks! Definitely is 🙂
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