By Edwin Hopkins
Email Mr. Hopkins

Super

 Wikepedia (the free online encyclopedia) defines Extinction Level Event as an event which occurs when there is a sharp decrease in the number of species in a relatively short period of time. It has been the basis for such films as Armageddon and Deep Impact.

Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men could also be classified as such.. This time, there are no meteors the size of Mount Everest or Texas threatening to slam into us, nor any alien invasions with tripod machines sans heat rays and impenetrable shields exterminating us. The problem is from within. Infertility among the female population. Humanity is facing it’s own extinction through natural causes.
 

When we meet Theo, ex-activist now bureaucrat ,he is entering a coffee shop in London, 2027. He makes his way through a host of people, their eyes glued to the telly.  “Baby Diego”, the youngest person on the planet has been stabbed to death at 18 years old; an important bit of news that Theo apathetically dismisses while picking up his coffee, then casually turns to exit through the startled crowd. He just misses being blown to pieces by a heavy explosion in that same coffee shop seconds later. Seemingly unaffected , Theo heads for work.

Feigning distraught at his job over Diego’s death, Theo visits his friend Jasper  (Michael Caine) living in a good size house hidden in the woods, one of many places one can escape the city chaos. Jasper is relieved to see that Theo is alright, expressing real concern about losing him and Baby Diego in one day.
 

Like director David Slade’s indie thriller, Hard Candy, my anticipation was on overdrive for Children of Men since it’s first announcement. Fayetteville, North Carolina, unfortunately doesn’t rate as a primary market for some films. My youngest daughter, Jennifer got to see it before me in Seattle during it’s limited release back in December 2006.

Cuaron has created a frightening vision of our future set a mere 2 decades ahead, making it even more compelling. Nearly all of London is a combat zone and aided by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki,he captures the battles between the police and rebels perfectly using newsreel style camera work. Completely unpretentious on all fronts, I was impressed at how he allows one to contemplate what would really happen if this was the world’s fate 20 years from now.

Julianne Moore’s Julian is severely underused, although she really doesn’t strike me as the “revolutionary leader” type. That she and Theo were fervent activists while married supposedly gives you the impression that she’s a seasoned veteran and knows what she’s about.

Clive Owen remarkably portrays Theo as a worn out state worker who’s attitude toward life and the world’s future has become apathetic. He’s certainly not suicidal as some of his fellow citizens are. But simply resigns himself to the fate of all humanity. That is, until he meets Kee.

Ms. Ashitey’s Kee, if she makes it to the Human Project, is humankind’s last chance for a procreative future. She doesn’t take this quite as seriously as you think she should, being rather lay back except for the constant danger and periodic contractions she goes through. Wait until you hear the names she comes up with for the world’s first new born in nearly 20 years.

It took five writers, including Cuaron, to pen the screenplay adapted from P.D. James 1992 novel. Sometimes this works, sometimes too many writers, like cooks, spoil a good thing. Here, it works.The script is smartly rendered, doesn’t waist time or dialogue with the players. This quintet of scripters took great care dealing with a subject that everyone I in the world needs to be interested in.