Alfonso Cuaron's Children Of Men sounds like the best picture of 2006. The plot, written by Alfonso Cuaron and four other screenwriters, is an ambitious one and one that would ordinarily be the film to beat in a slow cinema year marked by silly pirates, Boston crime dramas, and singing soul sisters. In the year 2027, just a few years away from tomorrow, our world has become chaotic. The streets are bombarded with terrorism while the United Kingdom has become a "fascist pig" of a nation, battling the problem of illegal immigrants with concentration camps. But the world has bigger problems than a few angry coppers--human beings can no longer procreate and might possibly be doomed in a generation's time. The film sees a former activist Theodore Faron, played by Clive Owen, stumble upon his former wife's political faction, a group of underground activists who are holding a secret--a miraculously pregnant woman who must be transported to the "Human Project", a scientific sanctuary at sea where mankind's survival may yet be discovered.

In the last several years, Alfonso Cuaron has been absurdly glorified, to near Shyamalan proportions. He directed Y tu mamá también and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban to rave critical reviews. While Y tu mama tambien was a discovery, it takes a special kind of genius (like Chris Columbus) to screw up the very imaginative Harry Potter franchise--something Alfonso Cuaron did not do, as he managed to make an entertaining story into a watchable film. Nevertheless, with Cuaron being praised by all of Hollywood, he could only follow up his newly found fame and respect with an ambitious epic like Children Of Men. Does the movie live up to the hype?

The premise of Children Of Men is fascinating and audacious in its implications of a totalitarian Anglo America to come. In addition to the story, there are some powerful images and scenes of destruction that Cuaron has masterfully filmed. Indeed, the carnage in Children Of Men, the nihilistic aggression that a doomed civilization preaches, are truly horrifying and up to par with the best of Hollywood's war movie directors. The suspense of the film is also a killer, as double crosses and sudden deaths ensue at nearly every turn. The only person we, or the very vulnerable mother to be, are allowed to trust is Clive Owen, who carries the picture nicely as a grumpy anti-James Bond hero. The rest of the film's performances are jarring to put it best, most notably by a stoned out Michael Caine, who seems so blissfully eager these days to play the fool.

By the end of the picture, however, Children Of Men is more concerned with action and death than truly seeing its apocalyptic vision through. As the film's tag line ruefully suggests, "No children. No future. No hope." The point of the movie, of course, is that there is hope even beyond society's worst nightmare. Unfortunately, Cuaron only excels at exploring the scenes of aggression, despair and chaos. All the hope for mankind is left to the imagination while bullets fly and blokes explode.

Children Of Men is probably the most visually and aurally astounding movie of the year. Yet, the film fails to raise any intellect or even exploit any emotion out of its otherwise exciting and socially relevant plot. By the time the second "Children Of Men" title screen jumps out, we can only assume the world lives happily ever...or at least hope? Grade: B