“This movie hadn’t even really been on my radar yet. I saw one trailer for it not too long ago, and thought it looked really cool, but figured it wouldnt be out for a while. Then while trying to plan my down south movie watching (a game of how many options do I have before I’m just repeating MI4) I noticed that this was playing at both theaters here. The title didnt ring any bells, and I didnt think too much of it. Laredo doesnt exactly have a reputation for highlighting good movies. Then Zachary Levi tweeted something that made me pull out IMDB and find out exactly what The Darkest Hour is. “”OOoooooh it’s that one!”” was along the lines of what I thought. Followed by “”Aw \m/ that’s another one on my list””. Since I was prioritizing flicks that weren’t playing at Harvard Sq (to cut down on travel time if movies get saved for Boston) this one got upped to the top. Kinda glad that it did.
In short, I felt that this was exactly what this type of sci-fi suspense movie should be: creative bad guys, streamlined plot, good characters, cool action. I dont scare easily with movies, mostly because I think too logically. “”Oh no, there’s a guy with a knife chasing me”” Ummm, run away? “”Aaaaahh aliens just blew up the White House”” Lay low in a smaller town? “”Jigsaw’s doing something \m/ up”” I dont think I’m a bad enough person to be on his radar. “”Oooooh spooky ghosts”” Right. Actually, Saw did give me nightmares but months after viewing. And the concept of Final Destination creeps me the \m/ out (you can’t exactly run from death itself) but they’re too campy and cheesey to be scary (though I do love them). This one really got to me. Why? These things kill instantly. They’re everywhere. And, oh yeah, they’re invisible. I did kinda get over it as the movie progressed but I could definitely feel spine tinglies for a while.
To be honest, though, as much as the concept intrigued me, I dont think I would have seen it (or at least not put some priority on it) if not for the cast. Emile Hirsch def gave this film some street cred (ignoring Speed Racer when I make that statement). Olivia Thirlby was a nice bonus. I really did like both of them, and I felt that their characters were much stronger than you typically get in this type of flick. I especially liked Hirsch’s character, Sean. Perfect combination of sweet, smart, and funny. My fave moment of the movie was his response to the “”how exactly did you figure this all out”” question. I’ll let you discover his response yourself, but it was a perfectly delivered solution to a common flaw in these movies. They really do tend to make it too easy for our heroes to figure out what’s going on.
Darkest Hour also gets points for the Moscow setting. It’s gotten on my nerves a bit how many freakin’ movies are set in either LA or NYC. Not only did they change it up, but the whole far away from home thing totally upped the emotion and suspense of the movie. And it’s so pretty too!!
Right, so not exactly an Oscar winner by any stretch, but I certainly enjoyed myself. C’mon, there’s certainly far worse ways to spend 90 minutes, and this was by far the highlight of my yesterday!
The Darkest Hour – \m/ \m/ \m/ \m/