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nTitle: The Darkest Hour (2011)
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nDirector: Chris Gorak
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nCast: Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella, Olivia Thirlby, RachelnTaylor
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nReview:
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nThe Darkest Hour is the kind of film I watch for amusementnpurposes only. Going into it I knew it wasn’t going to be the most thought provoking, deepest or smartest film I’d ever seen, I’d read a couple ofnreviews, I had a general idea of the kind of movie I could expect. But still,nIm a sucker for sci-fi and an even bigger sucker for post apocalyptic films, sonI decided to give this one a watch. At the very least I expected a brisk, fastnpaced flick with cool effects and some action. If you ask me, The Darkest Hour is an emptynfilm every step of the way, as most alien invasion films are. The formulanbehind these movies is simple: monsters appear, humans run, humans find a waynto kill the creatures, humans fight back, monsters die and for all intents andnpurposes, this is exactly the kind of film The Darkest Hour is. But a film cannstick to this formula and still entertain, the question remained, would The DarkestnHour at least do that?
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nIn The Darkest Hour we meet a pair of computer programmersnthat have just created the newest website that’s apparently going to take overnthe world. They’ve presented their idea to a group of Russian businessmen andnare ready for their first official meeting. Problem is that once they get there they find out they are no longer needed, some douche bag stole their idea andnis now presenting it as his own. So as they ponder how to counter attack this humongousnbackstabbing, they decide to go out on a drinking spree, to see if they cannhook up with some Russian girls. Low and behold they end up hooking up with anpair of American girls! Things are looking up until suddenly these strangenyellow lights start dropping from the heavens! Upon closer examination theynlearn that these strange lights are actually energy absorbing aliens! They turnnhumans into ashes and they mean to invade our planet!
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nSo yeah, nothing really new here; basically, if you’ve seennfilms like Independence Day (1996) and Skyline (2010), then you’ve seen ThenDarkest Hour. The ‘new’ element that the film brings to the table is that itnwas shot entirely in Russia
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nAnd speaking of the aliens, this is where I met my firstnreal disappointment with this film. And it’s sad really because this film couldnhave been so much better had they put a bit more of an effort with the look ofnthe aliens. Here’s what happens with this movie: it might be walking on tirednground, and showing us situations and premises we’ve seen a gazillion timesnbefore, but it looks good, it was well shot and it has a likable bunch ofncharacters. Hell, at least it’s not like Skyline, a film populated by a bunchnof douche bags. So anyways, The Darkest Hour is not a bad looking little movie,nthe cast is doing a respectable job, the film even made me care for some of it’sncharacters! But then the aliens show how they look and you feel like you wishednthey had stayed invisible. Just imagine the cheapest, crappiest computernanimation you could think of, and amplify it by ten. I seriously don’t understandnhow this director let this alien design slip by him. I thinking it was a lastnminute thing, a rushed job, apparently, they had no time to do something worthnwatching.
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nA pity too since I found myself mildly enjoying the flick,nand to be honest, it’s not a completely horrible movie it’s just that it has ancouple of hiccups here and there that scream lazy. For example, this old mannthat the kids meet is a genius and he’s devised a way to kill the aliens withnthis microwave gun he’s invented. The thing probably took the old man months tonmake, and he hands it to these kids so they can fight the aliens. So anyhow, atnone moment the good guys figure they need another gun to fight the aliens with,nso what do they do? They build an exact replica of it in something like fivenminutes! I was like what?? There’s lot’s of inconsistencies like that one…thingsnthat simply take you out of the movie. You’ll be asking yourself why? How? I’llntell you why and how, lazy filmmaking! So let’s see, plot holes galore, nonsensicalnhappenings, and a tired plot, damn, there’s many things against this one, Inrecommend this one only for those with a stomach for b-movies (like me) who don’tnmind so many inconsistencies and are forgiving with their bad movies. I call itnfor what it is, but still found some enjoyment with The Darkest Hour, even if Indid feel like I’d seen this flick a million times.
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nSo this flick was directed by a guy called Chris Gorak, he’dndirected only one other film before and it was another post-apocalyptic filmncalled Right At Your Door (2006) which I started watching once but had no timento continue. I will try and re-watch it again soon, especially since I’m on anpost apocalyptic kick these days. Thing about Mr. Gorak is that he’s workednwith a lot of famous directors like Terry Gilliam and David Fincher, but on antechnical level; as art director and production designer. Gorak has done all sorts of jobs in all kinds of films and well; I guess he decided tonput all that experience to good use directing his own film. With The DarkestnHour he finally got his chance to direct a theatrical release,nunfortunately, in my opinion, Mr. Gorak still has a ways to go in terms ofnlearning what makes a good film work. Making things believable even within yournfantastical context is a good way to start. Also, trying to go for a bit morenoriginality. As it is this feels like a low budget version of Independence Day.nI can watch aliens falling from the sky, but if you show it in a believablenfashion I’ll believe it. That’s the magic and illusion of movies anyways,nmaking us believe the unbelievable. But if you give me these cheesy lookingnaliens, then your movie goes down a couple of notches, sorry dude!
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nRating 2 1/2 out of 5
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