I’ve got to give credit to THE DARKEST HOUR for attempting to do something original with the well-worn alien invasion genre. Setting the action in present day Moscow is an interesting change of pace for the North America-centric settings these kinds of films normally inhabit.
The unseen alien forces also have the veneer of freshness, owing more to ghosts and unseen spooks than the traditional creepy-crawly slime types we normally see in films like this.
Unfortunately the commitment to ‘shaking things up’ is only skin deep. Despite the initial stab at trying something new HOUR follows the familiar group of English-speakers as they band together for your typical heroing and adventuring. The films mimics the traditional plot and genre conventions religiously and never once sets out to put its own stamp on things. Any Russians who somehow managed to sneak into the movie are reduced to forgettable bit players and redshirts.
HOUR isn’t a bad film, just one the completely fails to take advantage of the few elements that make it a unique.
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