Movie #76- The Darkest Hour

Sean (Emile Hirsch) and Ben (Max Minghella) are two Americans in Moscow for business, which goes horribly wrong when their Swedish business partner Skyler (Joel Kinnaman) betrays them and makes a deal with the Russians before they even got there. They then go out to a club to try and forget about Skyler and the deal when they meet Natalie (Olivia Thirlby), another American and her Australian friend Anne (Rachel Taylor). Outside they see hundreds of lights in the sky that appear to be floating down toward them at first they're intrigued but when a police officer goes to touch one, it turns him to ash and of course panic ensues. The four, along with Skylar end up hiding in the nightclub basement for a few days and when they emerge there is ash everywhere, when they go outside, no one's around, there are abandoned cars everywhere and everything is still and silent. The group decide that they have to get to the American Embassy but they have to avoid the lights, which isn't an easy thing because sometimes they're invisible. So the film follows the story of these five trying to survive, trying to find a way home and to avoid the lights! This is one of those films that most critics don't like, but I'm one of those people that don't really care what others think, so on that note I'll say that I quite like this movie, I love the actors in this, although it isn't their best acting and I love the fact that the alien invasion is set in Moscow as opposed to New York (which seems to be the only place we see invasions in cinema these days). Some people criticise this film because of the fact that we don't actually get to see the aliens, they're just shimmers of light, but who cares! If you want to see actual, disgusting, gazillion feet tall aliens switch over to Ridley Scott's 'Alien' - You're in for a gut bursting treat! But for those of us who have seen all the Alien films, and 'The War of the Worlds', the recent 'Battleship' and even fricking 'E.T', The Darkest Hour is a welcome relief. The fact that we don't know what the aliens actually look like, save a few glimpses or flashes of light, leaves it open for the audiences imagination. The only problem I have with this film is the ending, it leaves it open for a sequel which I don't think was a wise choice at all! I dont know if there will be a sequel, I doubt it, but there a still questions unanswered- which I hate! But then again you could argue that the audience can decide for themselves how it all turns out. Me? I'm a good time girl, so in my version, I'm going with 'Happily Ever After' or in this case the Aliens fuck off back to their planet! Like I said - good time!