THE DARKEST HOUR
This has been the year for Joel Kinnaman who has three projects released in 2011. He plays Skyler who accent is indistinguishable but his versatility on scene is strong. In every role his biggest downfall is that he reverts to a thick New York ghetto style annunciation that shows little growth in his acting. Throughout The Darkest Hour up until the death of his character he does ignite the screen.
Emile Hirsch (Sean) never descends from his character portrayal grinding through the battles with aliens but never losing sight of the goal to escape. Olivia Thirlby (Natalie) has on screen charisma that will draw the viewer to her character sensitivity while fighting the hostile environment created by the alien invasion. The two actors Max Minghella (Ben) and Rachael Taylor (Anne) are the expendable friends who follow the path of those who have died in every other horror movie. They do all the wrong things which puts them in the path of alien destruction.
3D has yet to grab my attention in any film and continues to let me down in The Darkest Hour. It has little if any impact on the cinematography and is visually unnecessary for this film. Why the producers would grant permission to use money for this en devour is beyond reasonable thinking. The dusting scenes where aliens kill the humans has visual potential but Joss Whedon did it on the small scene with the same outcome on Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
No one will win awards for their part in this film but it does have youth potential to allow everyone to recoup their investment in the film. The fact that they used Russia for the backdrop of an alien invasion and were allowed to film in the country does necessitate praise for stepping out of the norm. Since most films depicting Russia are often set in the dark winter it was great to see that the country flourishes with sunshine and short sleeve weather.
There will not be a sequel but the actors should go on to stronger parts in the future. In the past most actors use roles in films like this as a stepping stone but Hirsch, Thirlby, Kinnaman, Taylor and Minghella have all had successful movies released over the past few years. To experience Russia could have been the captivating vehicle that drove them to their characters.
RUSTY
12/25/11