The Darkest Hour (2011)

Did you people see the same film I saw?

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

An alien vs. earth film that doesn't take place in L. A. Two software developers go to Moscow to present their software only to discover the Russians already have an exact copy. Unfortunately the beginning and their talents don't factor later into the film. They meet a couple of other Americans at a nightclub and when it looks like they are going to score aliens attack the planet (story of my life).These are not ordinary aliens. They are mostly invisible and like Predator seem to hunt by infrared. They kill humans and barking dogs using some kind of microwave beam that causes living things to explode (the cool part). Our focus group of 5 young adults hide in a large storage closet that has food.Now what? Do you A) stay put until all the food is gone, then maybe venture out to get more food, hoping that the aliens have killed enough humans. And if captured all they would want to do is probe you?or B) Try to find the US embassy so they can get you back home. Personally I would go with "A" because I know for a fact the US embassy does not have contingency plans for an alien invasion. Perhaps they need to advertise that more.** mid point Plot SPOILER? but not ending**Our group chose option "B". Later they discover the aliens can be killed with a "Ghost Buster" looking weapon and there is a Russian sub in the river awaiting survivors...but not for long. They meet people along the way. They gain a few and lose a few.To be honest I got a bit bored during the alien hide and seek part. There were no monsters to see, so they saved a ton of money on make-up and special effects. I didn't feel much intensity. The acting was okay considering the lack of a script. They needed to add a little humor, maybe a love scene with an "exploding" ending. Asylum dull.2 f-bombs. No sex, or nudity. Some hip-hop song lyrics were suggestive.

Amazingly I have watch this movie probably half a dozen times. Whenever I see it is showing on a movie channel I am drawn to it like a mosquito to a light , very similarly like the aliens in this film. With many "don't do it!" Moments and "OMG, why?" It is entertaining as a movie should be. Yes, somewhat predictable at times but the cast is enjoyable and the take on the alien invators is quite clever. I will watch a 7th time.

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

Don't get me wrong, the story line was very interesting and something you don't see with every apocalyptic movie. I went into this movie with high expectations set from watching the trailer, only to be somewhat disappointed halfway through.The monsters/aliens whatever you want to call them are extremely intimidating at first, but only in the beginning can you actually feel any sort of terror from these things. Once they are revealed behind their invisible shield, it's almost laughable to see such a bad cgi with the faces. You would think that a movie with such great quality when portraying death scenes would spend a little more time on the aliens themselves.The actors felt too fake, and I found myself scoffing at how many of the main 'group' we see die only because it was so expected.The movie was okay, but I'm not going to bring it down completely because of a few minor things that could of helped it in the long run.I would still watch this movie again, however, I would warn people that the 'hype' from the trailer is not at all like the movie.