Children of Men 2008

This was my first watch and I was both pleasantly surprised and rewarded with a socially progressive & technically ambitious low budget scifi film but also a little soured with its pretentiousness. Children of Men is full of fabulous camerawork and cinematography that is a bit overstated and distracts from many moments. Instead of dramatic they are so aesthetically pleasing or grand that they eclipse the acting or we are pulled out of the reality of the story. Its forgivable only because this is more of a preposterous, symbolic genre movie than seriousness high drama. Its even comedic and campy at times and only a little bit excessive in its kitsch and lightheartedness. Its a brisk, serious-enough and thoughtful diversion from the post-apocalyptic adventure films of its period. I highly recommend it as a fine middlebrow exercise in commercial art filmmaking.