The Darkest Hour

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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 destruction 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 visual 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.

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