Darkest Hour

Actors:  Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Racheal Taylor, Joel Kinnamon

Rating:  8 out of 10, I liked this movie.  If you saw the previews for it then you know the plot.  Some Americans are partying in Russia when semi-invisible aliens descend and start vaporizing every living thing.  Of course there are survivors, of course they’re the Americans, but this movie actually does a good job of keeping you interested after the carnage of the first twenty minutes.  There are some great shots of Moscow, both before and after the invasion.  Seeing the empty streets after the bustle of pre-invasion times was especially jarring.  After spending four days in a basement hiding out, the young people head out across Moscow and link up with some plucky survivors.  I loved the Russian patriots who show up on horseback to rescue the Americans.  At times the plot threatens to descend into maudlin horror movie traps with a couple of the stars repeatedly doing stupid things that you know they’re doomed, cinematic Darwinism at it’s best.  The movie is better than that though as it is willing to sacrifice some of the good guys and the spirit of the Russians fighting back was inspiring.  The lead actor was terrible, Hirsch, just doesn’t have the chops for an action lead, you can see him thinking about what his lines should be.  The rest of the cast is excellent, especially the Russians.  The alien invasion story has been done so many times but the film makers found a novel way by making them invisible and seemingly invincible but then slowly revealing vulnerabilities.  The Blu Ray also had some interesting extras including one called Survivors.  I don’t know if it was a teaser for a sequel or just some plot line that was abandoned but it showed the struggle against the aliens at a bunch of different places around the world and was pretty interesting. 

MVP:  Thirlby as Natalie was both interesting and smart as the female lead but the real heroes for this movie were these guys – casual deadly competence and fighting spirit – gotta love em.