REVIEW: The Darkest Hour

My start to 2012 has been a bit of a mixed bag. It started off quite well, but unfortunately for me, the films I see keep progressively getting worse and worse.

Let me start by saying this; I have no idea how 'The Darkest Hour' got it's way into theatres, I have no idea why 'The Darkest Hour' was in 3D and I have no idea how the script could be so full of stiff dialogue. Those are my main gripes with the film really.

Firstly, it was obvious from as soon as the film started that it felt like they were filming from a first draft working script rather than an actual polished up version. It was full of clangers such as, "A country cannot survive without religion or alcohol, so that's why I drink religiously!" and cliche Horror/Sci-Fi dialogue such as "If we go outside, we're dust!!" (That second line was delivered right after the main characters had just spent a lengthy montage running outside across Moscow unharmed, so the threat by that point didn't seem too great.) But, just imagine those nuggets of dialogue being delivered in the most wooden and uninspired way possible and you will be imagining 'The Darkest Hour'. I don't know if the actors gave up because they knew what they were in should have been a TV film (at best) or that was their actual best efforts?!

Also, there was absolutely no tension in the film whatsoever. The main characters are locked in a basement for the first four/five days with someone who has just stolen their investment idea that was going to make them millions. Yet, about 5 minutes later into the film, they seem to have forgiven him and want to work as a team. The group leave the safety of their basement without even so much as one argument about where it's safer to be - they all just accept they need to run outside with the invisible aliens. Story telling is all about conflict and when the film seems to be void of any conflict then it becomes very boring very quickly.

Which brings me to my next point; there is no way this film should have been in cinemas. It just didn't feel grand enough to be in cinemas and it felt like I was watching something that really should have been on TV. They had scenes that showed the aftermath of what could have been visually impressive 'set-pieces' (a plane crashed into a shopping centre, a warship that had destroyed a bridge etc) but we never actually see much of the devastation happening (we see some empty buildings collapse at the end, but it just doesn't seem to make up for it.) The rest of the film felt like they had filmed it in the back alleys of Moscow and disused buildings. It just didn't feel grand enough. (It actually made me angry that tripe like this can make it to cinemas while legitimate indie writers/actors/directors struggle to get their work seen.)

And finally, the 3D. There was absolutely no point to this film being in 3D. None at all. Why would you make a 3D 'visual spectacular' film about invisible aliens?! There was nothing to see, literally, so most of the time it felt like I was watching a 2D film with awkward glasses on. But when the aliens were actually revealed, there was still no point in the 3D. A couple of pieces flew at the screen when they exploded, but nothing was really worth it. And when the aliens were revealed, it felt like the graphics had been lifted straight out of a video game. Granted, I'll pay the film some respect, because the rest of the visual effects were pretty spot on (the people being changed into dust was pretty well done and the mining ores, as seen on the bottom half of the poster, were also visually sound) but when the aliens were revealed it was like they had suddenly ran out of budget.

So, what I'm trying to get at is please don't waste your hard earned cash on 'The Darkest Hour'. I'll admit, the poster looks pretty decent, but looks can be deceiving. I generally don't watch a Sci-Fi film like this to be wowed by Oscar winning performances (unless Ridley Scott is directing... c'mon 'Prometheus'!) But when you have a film that throws an inconceivable plot at you, such as a character turning up miles away in the middle of the city mere minutes after falling off a capsized boat (don't ask!) then you have to start asking yourself, did the creators of this film really think this film through at all?!

* / *****