ViewGuide

Created Mar 23, 2008 07:32PM PST • Edited Jul 13, 2013 12:02PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   A compelling concept, exceedingly well produced, makes for a grimly terrific movie. Dystopian fantasies like this – What if people could no longer procreate? – provide a rich canvas for filmmakers to project their political predilections, here of a class struggle triggered by the procreation crisis.

   Tiresome though this sort of leftist worldview may be, the movie holds together well, bearing favorable comparison with A Clockwork Orange and Blade Runner.

4. Acting

   Great 4.0

   Clive Owen ably anchors the movie as a world weary guy who can’t escape doing the right thing.

   Michael Caine provides welcome jolts of energy and humor as a pot farming prankster, of all things.

   Julianne Moore disappoints as the rebel ringleader, partly because her porcelain skin renders her expressions almost invisible.

5. Male Stars Really Great 4.5

6. Female Stars Very Good 3.5

7. Female Costars Great 4.0

8. Male Costars Great 4.0

10. Film

    Perfect 5.0

    Tremendously impressive production values, fabulous music and big thoughts make this a perfectly produced film.

11. Direction Perfect 5.0

12. Play Perfect 5.0

13. Music Perfect 5.0

    Extensive use of 1960s rock contributes to the “Fight the Power” ethos of this movie. Highlights include the Stones’ “Ruby Tuesday,” sung in understated fashion by Franco Battiato, King Crimson’s “The Court of the Crimson King” (with a pre-ELP Greg Lake contributing his peerless vocals), and “Hush” by Deep Purple.

14. Visuals Perfect 5.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Risqué 2.2

17. Sex Innocent 1.0

18. Violence Brutal 2.9

19. Rudeness Profane 2.6

21. Reality

    Glib 1.9

    The PhysioReality is normal, while the BioReality is less glib than with most action movies.

    However, from the large issues (Why would an expectant mother be anything but welcomed?) to the small (Our heroes miraculously dodge bullets while darting through urban combat that kills all around them), the CircoReality pushes into the realm of the Surreal.

22. Circumstantial Surreal 3.0

23. Biological Glib 1.7

    Our heroes take a licking and keep on ticking, though perhaps the biggest BioReality liberty is the mysterious failure of humanity to have babies. The cause is hinted at but never explained.

24. Physical Natural 1.0