Darkest Hour - Review - Mind on Movies

R: December 22nd, 2017 | R: 125 minutes | R: PG-13

World War II has just broken out and West Europe is now facing its darkest hour with numerous invasion threats and Dunkirk at gunpoint. With Winston Churchill (played by Gary Oldman) being elected as the newest prime minister of Great Britain, he is forced to make the ultimate decision to either negotiate with Hitler or fight against the odds.

“Darkest Hour” is directed by Joe Wright (who previously directed “Pride & Prejudice” and “Hanna”) and stars Gary Oldman (previously seen in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and “The Dark Knight”), Lily James (previously seen in “Baby Driver” and “Cinderella [2015]”) and Kristin Scott Thomas (previously seen in “Only God Forgives” and “Gosford Park”). And honestly Gary Oldman completely stole the show. Not only did he wear pounds of makeup and fat suits, but he completely engulfed himself into Winston Churchill. And he absolutely killed the speeches in this film.

Now where this Oscar bait film begins to flop is the story. Everything is very slow moving and really never had me on board with the film. Joe Wright uses very long tracking shots that are technically brilliant...but watching them for two hours and five minutes quickly had me lose interest. The color palette for this film is also incredibly depressing and did not engage my interest at all.

Now while this film is a technical masterpiece and has an amazing performance from Gary Oldman, it really does end up being a drag to watch. However, I do believe Gary Oldman is locked in for winning “Best Actor in a Leading Role” this year at the Oscars. But I would not recommend this film to the general public. Honestly I would only recommend this film to major history buffs. If you are looking to see a great British WWII film I would recommend seeing Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk”.

Rating: 3 out of 5

Cabell (Contributor) is a filmmaker from Tampa, Florida. He will watch just about any film but when he's not reviewing the latest hits he spends time directing films of his own.
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