Actor : Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella,
Running Time : 88 minutes
Customer Reviews
By
Teriek Williams (New York, NY) (REAL NAME)
The Darkest Hour is the second feature film by former art director/production designer Chris Gorak and a production of Timur Bekmambetov who previously directed the satisfying action thriller Wanted in 2008. The film stars up-and-coming young actors Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild), Max Minghella (The Social Network) and Olivia Thrilby (Juno). The premise of the film follows two young adults (Hirsch, Minghella) who travel to Moscow, Russia for a business deal gone bad and in the process meet two young women at a club (Thrilby, Rachel Taylor). Unexpectedly, an clandestine invasion by an invisible alien species results in the destructio n of Moscow and several cities around the globe. Hiding in a club cellar, the four travel the post-apocalyptic remains of Moscow in search for safety and rescue.Similar to 2008's Cloverfield, The Darkest Hour places much of the burden on the shoulders of lesser known actors and actresses if they are even known at all. The characters are all in the early-20s and the screenplay emphasizes their personalities, which may be pleasing to the audience but in most cases will not be. It seems that the new credo for the American disaster film is the put young characters at the forefront of the story instead of strong leading men and women with established careers, possibly hoping for a young audience to spearhead the film's commercial success. What this leaves us with is a story built around a group of Social Network-pioneers looking to make a big deal in Russia only to be blindsided by the reality of the cutthroat business world. However, unfortunate it may be, one must question: Do we really care?The biggest pitfall of a disaster film is to present storylines that emphasize the normal on-goings of ordinary characters. Everything should focus on the mystery, the thrill and the promise of the disaster. The Darkest Hour makes that mistake in an even bigger way than Cloverfield. Still, unlike The Social Network or Cloverfield, which featured well-to-do yuppie teens with the world at their disposal, these characters are a tad bit more likeable despite their youth. There is a sense of attachment to the characters, which is competently developed by the filmmakers. However, the story built around or at least built as a roadway to the alien invasion is not as strong as something like The X-Files. In other aspects, some of the film's plot devices seem cliched.Nevertheless, the film does have an aura of unpredictability to it and tragedy is felt as even the most important and entertaining characters are susceptible to sudden death. And in spite of a lagging story , the film's visuals are not completely overdone. The visual effects of the film seem naturalistic and in their 3D film setting becomes in some way noteworthy. But the film's central flaw is that it isn't as a thrilling as the trailer made it out to be. The destruction sequences while something to look at aren't as awe-inspiring as one would hope them to be. As a location, Moscow seems less than special. It fails to present the compelling visuals that a New York or Paris production would have had.The performances of the actors aren't of much note considering the material and dialogue handed to them wasn't clever or grand in any way. Some of the quotes in the film, especially the ones uttered by Emile Hirsch come off as trite. In the end, the visuals of the film remain striking to some degree and Tyler Bates' score is appropriately brooding but the film is highly flawed when it comes to its script, story and dialogue. Still, the film provides some thrills and some inspired vi sual moments. Unlike some other films that can be mentioned, the film at least has some sympathetic characters and it can be said that the main cast is trying.In truth, this film is good popcorn entertainment but by going by the trailer, one expected more than that especially since it was one of the more anticipated science fiction films this year. And Although Bekmambetov delivered a satisfying film in 2008 with Wanted, that was nearly four years ago and I am quite doubtful that audiences will remember the Russian filmmaker or if dropping his name on the project will do anything to push the commercial success of the film forward. Hopefully, the upcoming Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter will restore confidence and awareness to the Bekmambetov name. With lesser known stars, there's nothing driving this film into monumental success and with near universal critical ire and a gross of $36 million on top of an estimated $30 million budget paints the picture that the filmmakers of The Darkest Hour truly missed the boat.
By
Michael Ledo (Windsor, SC United States) (TOP 500 REVIEWER)(REAL NAME)
An alien vs. earth film that doesn't take place in L. A. Two software developers go to Moscow to present their software only to discover the Russians already have an exact copy. Unfortunately the beginning and their talents don't factor later into the film. They meet a couple of other Americans at a nightclub and when it looks like they are going to score aliens attack the planet (story of my life).These are not ordinary aliens. They are mostly invisible and like Predator seem to hunt by infrared. They kill humans and barking dogs using some kind of microwave beam that causes living things to explode (the cool part). Our focus group of 5 young adults hide in a large storage closet that has food.Now what? Do you A) stay put until all the food is gone, then maybe venture out to get more food, hoping that the aliens have killed enough humans. And if captured all they would want to do is probe you?or B) Try to find the US embassy so they can get you back home. Personally I would go with "A" because I know for a fact the US embassy does not have contingency plans for an alien invasion. Perhaps they need to advertise that more.** mid point Plot SPOILER? but not ending**Our group chose option "B". Later they discover the aliens can be killed with a "Ghost Buster" looking weapon and there is a Russian sub in the river awaiting survivors...but not for long. They meet people along the way. They gain a few and lose a few.To be honest I got a bit bored during the ali en hide and seek part. There were no monsters to see, so they saved a ton of money on make-up and special effects. I didn't feel much intensity. The acting was okay considering the lack of a script. They needed to add a little humor, maybe a love scene with an "exploding" ending. Asylum dull.2 f-bombs. No sex, or nudity. Some hip-hop song lyrics were suggestive.
By
Sexy Bachelor (Singapore)
The only exciting thing about this movie is seeing the hot actresses running around. I'd give 5/5 stars for that, less 1 star for the anti-climax. At the closing scene, I'm still left wondering if the aliens will ever be defeated. While it may be inferred that the aliens will meet their match sometime in the future, we've yet to see if the survivors will even make it safely to shore! I don't really like endings like this that leaves too much room for speculation.There isn't enough action or suspense in this movie, just a handful of humans running around, trying to hide, and figuring out how to outwit alien invaders.
By
Andres C. Salama (Buenos Aires, Argentina) (REAL NAME)
In this movie, four young Americans (including Emile Hirsch, from Speed Racer, and Max Minghella, from Art School Confidential, among others) get stranded in Moscow when an alien invasion (represented initially, intriguingly, as a lethal form of electromagnetic waves) attack Moscow, leaving almost everyone dead. Our friends hide in a sort of basement, a nd when a few days later, they emerge from inside, they find wholesale destruction, and the news that the aliens have attack planet wide, but also intriguing hints that there maybe other survivors. And soon enough, they find that some Russians have banded together to resist the invaders.Produced by Kazakh filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov (from the interesting Nightwatch franchise) this movie is nothing special but is surely an entertaining outing. Among the plus: the survivors escaping from the aliens in a desolate Moscow, including empty landmarks like The Kremlin and Moscow State University. Among the minus: some of the special effects are really cheesy.
No comments:
Post a Comment