Darkest Hour (2017)
…………………………………………………
Darkest Hour Movie Review
Darkest Hour is a 2017 British biopic directed by Joe Wright and starring Gary Oldman. It is one of the weakest 2017 films I’ve seen.
………………………………………………….
“Those who never change their mind never change anything“
………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
The film follows Winston Churchill’s early years as Prime Minister as Nazi Germany is sweeping Western Europe. The film is basically a clichéd biopic with not a single unique idea or interestingly executed scene in it. It basically follows the historical events word by word, scene by scene as they happened leading to one very dull, uncinematic historical lesson.
Gary Oldman is good in the role of Winston Churchill but this is still one of those Oscar bait roles which I thoroughly dislike. He is covered in make-up which is at times frankly noticeable and his overall performance, though good, is far from great as it wasn’t believable or inspired enough. The rest of the actors are entirely forgettable and the same goes for their characters as this is pretty much a one-man show which was a very annoying approach.
Darkest Hour is technically very uninspired. Yes, its costumes, attention to detail and makeup are solid. However, the score is entirely forgettable and the cinematography is horrible as the film has a very grainy, dark and boring look to it which really made it frustrating to sit through.
Joe Wright has never been a great director and certainly his direction here is not great. In fact, it is pretty bad and standard. The same goes for pacing which is horrible as the film is consistently not involving and was a chore to sit through.
………………………………………………….
………………………………………………….
Despite makeup and costumes and maybe actor, I cannot possibly fathom the other nominations this film received. None of those are at all deserved and the film is quite possibly the weakest Best Picture nominee of 2017.
It is such a shameless, manipulative Oscar bait of a movie that I was shocked to see it. This is in fact the most extreme case of that bait in recent years as the dialogue is very “inspirational” with his speeches and monologues and the film was basically just made to bring Oldman his first Oscar and it is again pretty obvious in that goal. I am looking forward to the day when they finally stop making these dull WWII movies.
Darkest Hour is an embodiment of a shameless Oscar bait which was pretty much made with one purpose alone – to get Gary Oldman his first Oscar. The film is well acted and it has some fine scenes, but it is mostly a giant chore to sit through as this very grainy looking, boring and entirely clichéd historical lesson with not a single ounce of creativity in it.
