20141108: Action Review--The Darkest Hour

The Darkest Hour

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2011, rated PG-13, action, adventure, scifi.
2. IMDB: 4.9/10.0 from 44,047 audience ratings. Estimated budget, 30 million USD.
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 12% on the meter; 26% liked it from 29,171 audience ratings.
4. I watched this on SyFy, complete with commercials.
5. Directed by: Chris Gorak.
6. Starring: Emile Hirsch as Sean, Olivia Thirlby as Natalie, Max Minghella as Ben, Rachel Taylor as Anne, Joel Kinnaman as Skyler, Veronika Vernadskaya as Vika, Dato Bakhtadze as Sergei.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Sean and Ben fly into Moscow for a business meeting.  They are clearly unwelcome at the meeting, and have been shut out of the deal that they had anticipated closing.  Ben spent cash and time developing the proposal, but their 'partners' just stole it from them.  While commiserating at a bar, they meet Natalie and Anne.  These are the heroes?


2. Soon thereafter, aliens make ingress.  People are killed; vehicles and buildings destroyed.  Bullets and the like do not touch the invaders, which seem to be non-solid energy beings of some sort.   The quartet wander the city looking for allies and weapons to survive.


3. Will they find what they need?


3. Conclusions
1. Chris Gorak's resume reads art director (8 properties) more than director.  This is his second film as director, following Right at Your Door, 2006.
2. One line summary: Four twenty-something slackers versus energy beings in Moscow.
3. One of ten


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 2/10 To go along with the title, and the location, the film is either at night or in the dim daylight.  The SFX were often cartoonish, and rough around the edges.  I expected more from an art director.  Some of the cityscapes supposedly in Moscow were well done.


2. Sound: 4/10 The music is much too loud, the voices often too soft.


3. Acting: 2/10 Terrible, from the lead to the bit players.


4. Screenplay: 2/10 As the film came to its conclusion, the phrase 'too convenient' kept coming to mind.  The idea that four twenty-something losers and self-described screw-ups could survive seems unlikely.  The aliens were black boxes.  Why have they come?  What do they want?  How did they get here?