Review of The Darkest Hour (2011) by Joe M — 28 Nov 2017

I really liked this movie. There are some bad things I can say about it (see below), but overall it was a solid sci-fi action film. The concept was interesting, different, and left me wanting more. I liked the graphics, and it did not rely too much on them to tell the story; although it seemed at first a bit of a cop-out to make the bad guys invisible, I was pleased in the end as this helped add to the suspense without making it an overly suspenseful movie.

This is like a really, really good B movie. I will watch it again, and I hope there is a sequel.

I did not like the music at the beginning, but in a way I think this was the point of the movie: At the beginning, everyone is wrapped up in the post-post-modern world of phones, apps, clubs and international business, and the ugliness inherent in this was well reflected in the music. However, as the movie progressed (spoilers), the loss of power and population made the phones and apps worthless and this brought the relationships more into focus. More time could have been spent looking at this in the movie, but I am glad they did not dwell on it too much. The worthlessness of the Moscow shopping districts was shown well when the main characters take new clothes to replace their clubbing attire, and the need for style is replaced by a need for warmth. Finally, when they regain access to their phones at the end of the movie, the most important app is the simple text message function, reminding us that the most important relationships are the ones we work to protect rather than the business relationships or traveller apps we see at the beginning of the movie.