Sean and Ben have just arrived in Moscow to conclude a deal, but upon arriving at the location, they realize that their idea has been stolen by a rising Swedish yes man, Skyler. Disappointed by the failure, the two boys seek comfort in a trendy venue where they meet Natalie and Annie, two American girls. That same evening, strange balls of light fall from the sky, a prelude to a terrible alien invasion featuring invisible extraterrestrials that feed on electrical energy, pulverizing any living being they come into contact with. Sean, Ben, Natalie, Anne, and Skyler find themselves united in an attempt to survive the alien attack while humanity around them seems defeated.
Do you remember the iconic American science fiction films that told stories of alien invasions, making explicit or implicit references to Russian enemies? They called it Red Scare, stemming from the historic Cold War that, in the aftermath of World War II, pitted the United States against the Soviet Union, foreshadowing terrible nuclear disasters. Body Snatchers, Martians... they could be called by different names but represented (sometimes unintentionally) the metaphor of the Soviet invader, the sly "foreigner" ready to conquer other lands to expand his dominion. Today, nearly 23 years after the fall of the Soviet bloc, the relationship between the United States and Russia has been completely redefined, the enemies of America are to be sought in the Middle East, and although some tension can be detected from time to time, the two superpowers no longer show too obvious signs of hostility. Timur Bekmambetov, a Russian filmmaker who became famous in his homeland and abroad for the blockbusters "Night Watch" and "Day Watch," then adopted by Hollywood for "Wanted," the action movie with Jolie, and now working on "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter," testifies to this. But Bekmambetov is also a producer, and to demonstrate this not just symbolic union between the United States and Russia, he puts Moscow capital at the service of a co-production that, in the end, has the appearance of a fully American film.
Like Luc Besson before him, Bekmambetov has a clear idea of cinema that evokes American star-studded entertainment, and "The Darkest Hour," despite having more Russian names in the credits than American ones, is structured like a U.S. B-movie of the kind produced mostly in the '80s. The alien invasion is not so much a device to unite international terrestrial forces against a common enemy from somewhere, but above all the classic trigger to show a group of people trapped in a hostile place (in this case, the dispersed Moscow) dealing with extreme survival.
The screenwriter John Spaihts stages a situation that is as classic as it gets, with continuous clichés of the fantasy/catastrophe genre and characters not so much stereotyped as cut with an axe. During the viewing of "The Darkest Hour," you have fun, but at the end of the film, you breathe a strange air of disappointment generated by continuous sensations of déjà-vu and narrative approximation. But let's go into detail.
When the characters enter the scene, it is clear who will make it to the end of the film and who will fall victim (heroically, unluckily, or stupidly) to the aliens; they make you feel it in every way: physical appearance, behavior, actor's popularity... in short, zero surprises. Often and willingly, the characters do and say improbable things, such as the foolish conviction that reaching the American embassy can save the protagonists when around them there are only ruins, or taking the most uncomfortable and clearly riskiest escape route when they could act differently, or even giving up a lifeline for unclear ideals. It is evident that John Spaihts inserted some good ideas into the script, but equally "unintelligent" choices do not help the film. Among the good ideas is certainly that of portraying invisible aliens, which on the one hand helps the creators not to strain their brains too much in the creation of creatures that most of the time disappoint and on the other hand favors the creation of tension, since what we cannot see appears decidedly more dangerous and fearsome. The first point unfortunately is not maintained to the end, and in the end, they felt the need to let us glimpse the appearance of the aliens, which, as expected, is disappointing, almost cartoonish. The second point, on the other hand, gives the director Chris Gorak the opportunity to create some excellent scenes in which the presence of the aliens is revealed only by the reaction of the electrical devices.
For Gorak, who we remember made his debut with the beautiful dramatic thriller "Right at Your Door," "The Darkest Hour" is the classic easy pass for works that count, productively speaking, but a certain stylistic anonymity of a film on commission is noticeable. The cast also turns out to be rather anonymous. On the one hand, there is the Emile Hirsch of "Into the Wild" and "Speed Racer," who alternates moments out of part (when he plays the hero/guérrilla) with others that suit him better (the good-natured one at the beginning of the film) and the unusual and interesting face of Olivia Thirlby ("Juno"; "Friends with Kids..."), on the other hand, there is a cast that is hard to remember, starting with the unlikely Russian punks to end with the intrusive Rachael Taylor ("Transformers"; "Shroud from the Past").
Do not forget that "The Darkest Hour" was shot in 3D and makes discreet use of stereoscopy. The focus is very much on depth of field and sometimes the effect of "objects hurled toward the screen" is played with; it is not a 3D necessary for the purposes of the story, but it is yet another demonstration that if a film is shot in native 3D, the technical result is of good level.
In the end, "The Darkest Hour" is a fantasy/horror B-movie that certainly does not leave a mark: too many flaws, many naiveties. Certainly, you do not get bored, and for an hour and a half of pure entertainment, this show can also work... but if you want a more "substantial" film, you necessarily have to look elsewhere.
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