Review: 'The Darkest Hour'

Film: The Darkest Hour
Director: Chris Gorak
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Max Minghella, Olivia Thirlby, Rachael Taylor
Rating: *1/2

The Darkest Hour is doomed to join the big band of alien flicks that come and go without really making an impression (at least not one that lasts beyond 5 minutes).

 

The plot? A bunch of 20 somethings stranded in Moscow fighting aliens who have invaded Earth to rob it of all its mineral resources. The aliens are pretty cool though, invisible with electric shields that look like trippy golden blobs, but that’s about it. The only way to detect them is by throwing some form of insulator their way, and if it lights up or makes a noise… RUN!

 

Emile Hirsch, as Sean, is decent but that’s all that can be said about him. Max Minghella as Ben and Olivia Thirlby as Natalie are just average. While Rachael Taylor is good enough for what her role demands out of her -- looking panicky and always on the verge of tears -- she is just a decorative piece in the dishy ensemble. It is a bit annoying that the entire cast is so good looking, just once I would like for at least one of them to be shockingly ugly. Even after days of fighting off aliens and not taking showers (or brushing their teeth, I’m assuming), their hair is perfectly coiffed and their make-up intact, but that is going off topic.

 

The film religiously follows every cliché associated with alien invasion movies and offers nothing new. The aliens, when you finally get a glimpse of them in their actual form, are un-original to the point of being ridiculous. Best described, they look like flying giant black octopuses.

 

The Russian script displaying the cast names in the opening credits leads you to assume that there will be a recognizable Russian theme, but the only thing Russian about the film is it’s location. It could have happened anywhere and not made a difference to the plot. Though it is nice to see aliens targeting a country other than United States of America for a change.

 

There are some good special effects but like many other films, that have released recently, this one too has no business being 3D. If you can’t make it seem like the aliens are personally attacking you with their electrically charged tentacles then those 3D glasses are just an annoyance on your nose. The only time I freaked out was when the lights suddenly came on at interval.

 

The Darkest Hour is not worth the trip to the theatre or the price of the ticket. It will be best enjoyed on a Sunday afternoon when you have absolutely nothing else to do and have the liberty to switch to a Friends rerun every time the film's plot hits a slump.