The Darkest Hour

When the electric mist from the sky struck down.

This film came five years ago, but I watched it now. A US-Russian collaboration product that's entirely takes place in Moscow. This is an alien invasion theme, but slightly different than those similar films. It never gives the reason, just the destructions like apocalypse on its way. That means it is about the survival. A group of Americans who are in the Moscow for different reasons joins the hands after people started to turn into ashes with the contact of the strange electric mist that came from the sky. So what's their plan now and whether they get out of it safely or not focused on the remaining film.

Surely some people would enjoy it. It's not all bad if you are not expecting a masterpiece. I should have seen it in digital 3D for a better experience, even the normal watch is not that bad. The turns in the story were unpredictable, particularly the film characters, but the twist wasn't. They kept the open ending, and you know why is that. I liked the performances, not individually, but the overall everyone, including the Russians.

The film was also shorter, which means fast moving tale. The graphics were okay, especially those electric mist thing, but disappointed for not show the aliens other than for fractions of seconds during the fightbacks. Despite enjoyed watching it, I'm not in favour of it, because it's just one of those films that falls in the average category where the majority of those who watched it not happy for not detailing everything in the film.

4/10

Good CGI, good action scenes, good sound, Moscow is an interesting place, but everything else is so weak and stupid that it's not worth watching this movie twice.

I decided to watch this film yesterday, when it was shown on TV, but curiously I was waiting to see another film with a similar title made in 2017. Even so, I didn't give up my time: even though I didn't have much predilection for alien invasion films, the film is quite dynamic, has good action scenes and a good amount of high quality CGI, and so it is, at least, a piece of entertainment that we don't regret watching... once. Just once.

Let's start with the good stuff: the scenes take place in Moscow, the Russian megalopolis, long before we ostracized the country due to aggression against neighboring Ukraine, when Russians seemed to want to have more contact with Westerners. This was a real breath of fresh air because in sci-fi films we almost only see US cities. I also believe that filming in Russia was a strategic option for the production to be able to film at lower costs. In addition to the clever use of the filming locations (which include Red Square and the GUM Shopping Center), the film offers us a massive dose of high-quality CGI, which we see in greater glory when the aliens appear. But the whole film is a feast of CGI and visual effects. The sound effects are also very good, and the action and running scenes are fun enough to keep the film moving.

And unfortunately, good things end here. Everything else is so full of flaws and problems that make the film unworthy of a second chance. This is just my opinion, but I think we can all agree on one point: there are a lot of films about alien invasions, and it doesn't take much thinking to remember two or three that make this film a total joke.

The film is directed by Chris Gorak, but it seems like he was more fascinated with CGI and action than trying to direct. Thus, we have a very young cast who are left to their own devices and who i...