The Darkest Hour (2012)

Another year, another alien invasion story. Yeah we apparently can’t get enough of the alien invasion story can we? ‘Independence Day’, ‘Battle: Los Angeles’, ‘Skyline’, ‘Cowboys & Aliens’, ‘War of the Worlds’, ‘Mars Attacks!’, the list goes on. And as ‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ points out, about 99% of the aliens go to America first. Or rather they’re mainly set in America. So it’s a nice change of pace when an alien invasion changes places; this one decides Russia, a country which I actually want to go to at some point in my life.

However, we don’t get any main Russian characters until roughly the halfway point into the film. No, we follow two Americans Sean and Ben (Emile Hirsch and Max Minghella respectively) who go to Russia in order to sell a product. Granted I didn’t really remember their names, as I kept referring to them as Leonardo DiCaprio Jr. and Shia LaBeouf Jr. Their business plans however are hampered by Swedish businessman Skyler (Joel Kinnaman), who effectively...stole their thunder? I don’t know who this guy is, it seems to imply that he’s on the team behind the software, and that he sent them an email saying they won’t be needed, so I don’t know why DiCaprio and LaBeouf Jr. are so upset.

 

We also have two American girls (What a coincidence!), Anne, played by Rachael Taylor, and Natalie, played by Olivia Thrilby. The only problem here though, is that I know Rachael Taylor is Australian, so I couldn’t stop hearing that this American girl has an Australian accent.

And the thing is, the aliens then invade. Like, ten minutes into the film, which effectively means that we haven’t had enough time to care about these characters, and whether we want them to survive. LaBeouf Jr. is alright I suppose, but we immediately hate DiCaprio Jr since he initially refused to turn off his phone when asked to on the plane. He states that people don’t actually believe that it would interfere with the plane’s navigational system...five seconds before power goes out for a minute. I believe it was actually because of the aliens, but I would’ve loved it if someone shouted “now turn off your fu*king phone!”. Then he goes and insults Russian law. Oh yeah! When LaBeouf Jr suggests they get a lawyer who knows Russian law so that they can sue Skyler, DiCaprio Jr replies “What Russian law?”. I’m sure the Russians didn’t mind that you effectively said that they had no justice system.

Now Skyler is shown to be a dick. He apparently stole their idea, I guess, then later shuts a door on nameless woman, resulting in her death. The thing is, if we were in his shoes, we probably would’ve done the same thing. Skyler also shows remorse at what he did, he says that the same few seconds keep replaying in his mind, he feels guilty at what he did. That’s actually a really good trait, to show that he is compassionate, that he isn’t a complete douche. He even redeems himself when, knowing he’s trapped between two aliens, distracts them so that the two main male characters can escape, resulting in his death.

Eventually we get some actual Russian characters in the form of Sergei (Dato Bakhtadze) and Vika (Veronika Ozerova in a very impressive acting debut). Now, these characters were really interesting. The problem with Sergei was he didn’t get enough screen time before being killed off. Vika’s entrance was off as she pulls a gun on our group and says they “should’ve knocked first”. The problem? You threatened to shoot them before they had the chance!

The major problem with the characters are, well, they’re bland and stupid. Especially the females leads. Except Vika. Anne for instance constantly does stupid things, including being the reason why Sergei dies! Bitch. Then we have Natalie, well, at one point they get on a boat to get to a submarine, a boat which capsizes. Whilst everyone else swims down the river to the nearby sub, guess what Natalie does? She goes INLAND! Seriously! She went further inland, than the distance to the sub!

But when any other character starts showing some interesting qualities, the film seems to think “No! Interesting character alert! Kill them off! Kill them off now!”. Hell, we see a dog at one point! He was awesome! Myself and the Whalley decided to call him Vegeta Jr. and he will become our new favourite character and....VEGETA JR. NOOOOOOOO! Those alien bastards are going to pay for that!

The acting overall is good. Again, some of the actors are really good, like Veronika Ozerova, especially since it’s her debut, but some just gave an alright performance but nothing in spectacular, like Max Minghella.

However, we then come across...the Russian police in the third act. I don’t know who they are, so I’m just going to call them the Russian Knights; since they were effectively wearing suits of armour made from scrap metal, one even used a car door for a shield! Oh my God these guys were awesome! They made an alien FLEE for Christ’s sake! They’re funny, they’re effective, they’re just awesome! I wanted the film to be about these guys! The best thing though is that they survive! Every single one of them! If they don’t bring out a spin off involving these guys I will be very mad.

Now the effects. When it concerns the aliens and the destruction they cause, ‘War of the Worlds’ style by the way, the effects are brilliant, superb. When it comes down to everything else, like the plane at the beginning and the submarine at the end, were just damn awful. The design of the alien race could’ve been better as well.

Oh, and the Whalley and I saw it in 3D, mainly because that was the only option available. And yes, it was pointless! I’m not really that great a fan of 3D, I might have said that already. There are films that do it really good, like ‘Toy Story 3’ or ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’, then there’s films which do it really bad, like ‘Clash of the Titans (2010)’, ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’ and ‘The Final Destination’. The 3D in this, was seriously pointless, the only point where the 3D came into effect was when the big screen told me to put the 3D glasses on. There was nothing in the film which stretched out towards me, nothing which made the 3D worth it. Maybe when someone burst into ash I saw it come out of the screen. I would think that when an alien blew up, its pieces would fly towards the audience, but the camera quickly cut away, rendering it pointless.

Plot wise, it’s sort of okay. The characters trying to find help and learning how to kill/evade the aliens was pretty good, but it is dragged down by some really stupid things, the main thing was that when DiCaprio Jr, LaBeouf Jr, the girls and Skyler came out from where they were hiding, their plan is go to the US Embassy. Why? No, seriously, you don’t think the aliens went there? You think the aliens cared that it was the US Embassy? You thought it was going to be:

DiCaprio Jr: Ha! Stupid alien! We’re in the US Embassy now! You can’t get us!

Alien: Oh darn, he’s right, I can’t possibly kill everyone here now that they’re on their government’s property. I’m going to kill that German guy, his embassy is on the other side of town.

Skyler even says it’s a stupid plan. While everyone essentially says he’s stupid and crazy and etc, we the audience feel connected to Skyler because he’s the only sane one there!

And I certainly hope that that submarine was well stocked of food and water before it set off, otherwise every single survivor is going to starve.

This film also has some of the worse cinematography I have ever seen. The 3D aspect I’ve already mentioned, and the film does this weird thing where it fades to black. While it is alright sometimes, it is pointless at others. One point, the main two males and females go towards the building, it fades to black, fades to them going up the stairs, then fades to black before it fades back to them going along a corridor to Sergei’s. What’s the point?! Then there's the point where the boat the group is on capsizes (and the subsequent aftermath is shown) in such a way we can't see what's going on.


The film also ruined its ending. At first it showed the submarine heading off, with the aliens still mining Moscow, it then fades to black, and fades back IN. It fades back to the group and submarine crew hearing that the French had managed to bring down a mining tower, somehow. DiCaprio Jr then states that "This is how it starts". Pretty useless at the end of the film. But the thing is, it would've been better if they left it at the first fade to black, where the submarine leaves and the aliens are still mining. It would've shown that aliens still occupy Earth, but since humanity is learning how to fight them, it would've left a feeling of uncertainty, it would've been much better to leave it with an unknown future for mankind. Then we get the scene where the French bring down a tower, something which should have been heavily guarded and swarming with aliens. Thanks for ruining the ending!

So, overall? It’s not a bad film, but it’s not a good film either. There are some ups and downs, some good points and some bad points, but it could’ve been so much better, that’s the downside. But it is certainly the second best film I’ve seen this year. And yes, I’ve only seen two releases this year. But then again, the song ‘The Uprising’ by Pilot Hill makes up for any bad things this film has.