“Children of Men takes a while to get rolling. [But] then comes a scene that, checking my notes, had me writing down words such as ‘brilliant’ and ‘ingenious.’ Theo, Kee and their allies are driving down a road when their car is set upon by a terrorist group. The ensuing bloodshed is shocking, and nothing in the scene plays out the way you’d expect.
“[Director] Alfonso Cuaron and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (who shot The New World and is a master of available light) coordinate an extraordinarily tricky action sequence using a camera that manages to cover a variety of carnage inside a speeding car, and then outside of it, and then, if memory serves, back inside. I cannot say how they did it. I can only say that I relish the chance to see it again.” — Chicago Tribune critic Michael Phillips, posted two days ago.