Review of The Darkest Hour (2011) by Mike S — 08 May 2012

Generic and shallow, though moderately entertaining overall and not quite as bad as they've made it out to be. Nevertheless, it's sad to see actor Emile Hirsch go from a top-class indie like Into the Wild, to something as mundane as this.

At least his acting is somewhat decent though, compared to that of, let's say, Joel Kinnaman. I know I should be happy that one of my countrymen has made it into Hollywood, but it's a struggle when he supplies one of the film's most insecure and downright lousy performances.

I shudder at the thought of him playing Robocop in the upcoming (and supremely unnecessary) re-make. I smell a Robo-flop! Apart from said malady, we're also forced to endure a good number of plot holes and illogical character actions.

Deficiencies which made it like the intellectual brother of the equally soulless Skyline. Don't lose heart by these words, however, for it's not all cons and misfires. It does have a couple of virtues that makes it worthwhile in the long run.

One is the fact that it's set in Moscow, which may not have the same excitement factor as that of New York and Los Angeles, but I thought it added a touch of freshness, to a genre in dire need of it.

And however ridiculous the writing may be, I can't say it ever bored me. Sure, it's a bunch of stupid teens running about like headless chickens, but that doesn't mean it can't be entertaining.

A poor man's take on War of the Worlds, but at least the alien invaders wasn't just another version of "The Greys" - they actually have some originality to their design. Just a shame it had to end on such an anticlimactic note; setting things up for sequel that will probably never come.

Or if it does, it'll be straight to the DVD discount bin. Still, it could have been a lot worse.