The electrifying science-fiction thriller The Darkest Hour arrives on 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD April 10th from Summit Entertainment. Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer, Into the Wild), Max Minghella (Ides of March, The Social Network) and Olivia Thirlby (TV’s “Bored to Death,” Dredd) star in this story of five young people who find themselves stranded in Moscow and fight to survive in the wake of a devastating alien attack. With Moscow’s classic beauty as the backdrop, The Darkest Hour features some interesting special effects from the minds of visionary filmmakers Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and Chris Gorak (Fight Club, Minority Report). The movie never lets up as the invaders begin their assault on Earth, targeting the planet’s power supply.
Director Chris Gorak delivers another “aliens attack without warning” movie which have been done so many times that at this point, if you’re going to make another, it should at least have something to set it apart. Unfortunately, this movie fails to meet that goal. Instead, we get paper thin characters and situations that have been recycled from better movies. Not even the main characters are interesting enough to root for so all that’s left to appreciate is the special effects. In this movie, the main protagonists are Sean (Emile Hirsch) and Ben (Max Minghella) who are two Americans that have traveled to Moscow to sell the idea for their club/party finder website. Upon arriving to the big meeting, they realize the partner they’d been working with named Skyler (Joel Kinnaman) betrayed them and has cut them out of the deal.
Angry and disappointed, Sean and Ben decide to have a good time to forget their troubles so they go to a local club where they meet fellow travelers Natalie (Olivia Thirlby) and Anne (Rachael Taylor), who have also the website and blog to find the same club. The pairs hit it off and they start having a good time when the lights go out. Everyone from the club heads to the street where they see some strange lights descending from the sky which is intriguing at first until an officer starts to investigate it when he is utterly disintegrated. After witnessing that, everyone scatters as they run for their lives. Sean, Ben, Natalie, Anne and Skyler end up taking refuge in the club where they remain locked in the storage room for days. The company could be better, since not only are Sean and Ben still pissed at Skyler, but Skyler has continued his selfish ways and sacrificed his date to save himself.