https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtJ60u7SUSw
“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender”
Release Date: December 22nd, 2017
Genre: Biography, History, Drama
MPAA: PG
I knew that this would be a film up my alley, as its rooted in World War II history. But I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did. I missed it in theatres, but I picked up the blu-ray day one after hearing so much praise for Gary Oldman’s performance, also I wanted to make sure I saw it because it was nominated for best picture at the 2018 Oscars; where it ended up winning 2 awards for Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Gary Oldman. This review will be short and too the point.
Darkest Hour is a biography, history and drama film about the early days of World War II, the fate of Western Europe hangs on the newly-appointed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who must decide whether to negotiate with Adolf Hitler, or fight on against incredible odds.
Darkest Hour is directed by Joe Wright. The only film I’ve seen by Joe Wright is The Soloist (2009), which I honestly don’t remember much. But I really liked the direction of this film, I feel like it was historically accurate, and Wright was able to lead Gary Oldman to Oscar gold this year. It was a film of really good direction and a powerful performance.
Darkest Hour is written by Anthony McCarten. His filmography consists The Theory Of Everything(2014). I loved The Theory of Everything, it was really well written. I thought Darkest Hour was well written as well, but I found myself loosing interest around the middle, there was a lull in the story and I found myself watching the time a little more and more. It definitely was well written, but the pacing of the movie kinda through me off. I feel like it could’ve been a little shorter too.
Darkest Hour stars Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill. I will focus solely on Gary Oldman in this actors write up because I didn’t recognize anyone else in this movie and his performance was an absolute POWERHOUSE.
Gary Oldman’s filmography consists of Leon: The Professional (1994), Air Force One (1997), The Fifth Element (1997), Lost In Space (1998), Hannibal (2001), Harry Potter and The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire (2005), Batman Begins (2005), Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), Call Of DutyL World At War {Video Game} (2008), Call Of Duty: Black Ops {Video Game} (2010), Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011), The Dark Knight (2012), Robocop (2014), and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes (2014). Gary Oldman is underrated. He is a chameleon, he can play any role, good or bad and exceed with flying colours. He even steals the show from bigger actors, I remember Gary Oldmans performance in Fifth Element (1997) and Air Force One (1997), then the heroes counterparts. There was no doubt in my mind after watching Darkest Hour, that Gary Oldman was going to win the oscar for Lead Acting for it. I heard nothing but amazing things about it since it was shown at TIFF, there was no contest in my mind. This movie is worth watching for his performance as Winston Churchill alone, he is absolutely unrecognizable.
My gripes with this movie comes in the pacing of it. I felt the middle was a lull, and I found my attention span wading a bit.
I give Darkest Hour a 3.5/5. Its worth watching alone, like i said, for Gary Oldman’s Oscar winning performance. Also if you enjoyed Dunkirk, this is a great companion piece to that movie. Dunkirk shows more of the war side, whereas Darkest Hour shows you the background and political side to the situation in Europe during that time.
Until Next Time!
-Andrew