Movie Review - The Darkest Hour

The Darkest Hour (2011)

Starring Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael Taylor, and Joel Kinnamen

Directed by Chris Gorak

While visiting Moscow, a group of five twenty-somethings -- three Americans, an Australian, and a Swede -- manage to be some of the few survivors when an alien life-form comes to Earth one night and annihilates much of the Earth's population.  The aliens are essentially invisible, but sometimes appear to the human eye as visible electric currents that completely disintegrate to dust any living organism they touch.  Overall, the premise of The Darkest Hour had maybe a bit of promise, but in execution, it's basically a glorified SyFy Channel movie that found the budget to include 3D effects in its theatrical release.

Although it may have been difficult to craft a horror film featuring a nearly invisible foe, had The Darkest Hour been successful, it may have been unique enough to at least be worth a watch.  However, the film is a bore of a sci-fi/horror amalgamation in which its ninety minute runtime is its only positive.  There's very little tension and the main characters are all so incredibly underdeveloped that it doesn't matter in the slightest when they get zapped by the aliens.  While the actors all try their hardest, the inane dialog they're forced to spout makes them all look sillier than they deserve to appear.

The RyMickey Rating:  D