Darkest Hour critical review- by Beyond the Trailer

Full text transcript of Darkest Hour critical review

And so the UK has its Lincoln, which would imply that Joe Wright has done as good a job as Steven Spielberg. I know that’s awfully hard to believe considering his very spotty track record, but it would appear to be the case. Now, I’m sure some of you are defending Joe Wright in the comments right now. And I’m a fan of the guy. His raw talent is undeniable, and I appreciate that he always seems to be pushing himself. We’re going to talk about that here because he finally did a good job.

But I think that while you can’t deny his raw talent, you can’t deny his numerous follies as well, some of them superficially folly. Refik. And we’re going to talk about one in just a moment. It’s like probably one of the most you know, I’m surprised he was able to recover. But then again, so was Winston Churchill. Perhaps Joe Wright felt a camaraderie with the historical figure because of their similar situations. But anyway, I would like to say that in this case, yes, Joe Wright is good a job, a Steven Spielberg.

And as both a lover of history myself and an admirer of our relatives across the pond, I was struck with darkest hours, potency in representing both. In fact, at one point while I was watching the movie, I was like, this movie is so unique. It’s just so wonderfully lovingly depicts the country. It’s just dripping with everything. And I want about the UK that, you know, Joe Wright would be a great choice to do, you know, the ultimate UK fantasy.

Peter Pan and I realized that he did, and he really buggered that one up. Yes, the Winston Churchill comparisons is actually pretty strong. So I guess this is a situation where it was the right material at the right time. And I’m not sure her darkest hour will do during award season, considering how political they are, which I think is ironic, considering this is a movie about not just an actual battle, World War two, but a very intense political battle, as you’ll see when you go to see the film, as I highly recommend that you do, because here’s the thing. No one’s Dunkirk. They you know, this movie talks about Dunkirk as well, but no one’s flashier and more artistic. And then also, I’m sure that many in the academy and in the industry overall, remember, Gary Oldman is repugnant, very poorly worded defense of Mel Gibson.

I just honestly don’t know if he can recover from that. I mean, I think a nomination is in the bag, but a win, I don’t know. But if we’re going to judge darkest hour simply on its on its merit is a film alone. And this is really a good old fashioned filmmaking is all about. I don’t think you can get I don’t think that you can have a better movie than darkest hour. I dare say the damn thing is perfect. And it even has a couple of nice modern flourishes to remind you that it was made in twenty seventeen, like the incredibly believable latex that Gary Oldman is wearing, like when he would turn his head, I’d be like, do I see a seam I never saw.

I see him. It looked real, it looked like real flesh and that was just absolutely astounding. Occasionally when you would stand up you’d be like your body type is much different than your head. Winston Churchill, you seem to have the most bloated head imaginable, but it was still incredibly convincing for the most part. And then also, Joe Wright continues to love typewriters and get a lot of creative mileage out of them. Remember his atonement score? They make a return here. Not quite so so, so much.

But it’s there. I think it’s interesting that that’s kind of like one of Joe Wright signatures. It’s such an interesting signature to choose the typewriter. Now, in addition to getting very realistic behind the scenes, look at what was truly a dark hour for the UK. Like, we have no idea until you see this movie and totally immersing oneself in the glory of England. The other thing that I really enjoyed about this movie is that it’s a great underdog story and I always love those because there’s a certain recent film about an Amazon during another World War pointed out we all have our battles to fight no matter the size. I mean, to us, they all seem quite big. So I always love seeing someone. Well, let me let me finish the sentence.

I love seeing someone isolated and under siege, fighting for what they believe is right, having faith in themselves and their beliefs. I mean, that’s always a welcome reminder, I think, to keep doing the same thing yourself. It’s also fascinating to be reminded that history is not as black and white as the history books, the politicians and even the media would like you to believe. I mean, it’s just shocking to see that there was a strong movement, not a small movement, but very strong in the UK and well within the government to actually sit down to peace talks with Hitler. I mean, it’s just shocking.

And I think it reminds you how much history does repeat itself, especially with the number of the things that are happening across the globe today. Also, this movie reminds you that so many of us have come so far in a very short period of time, historically speaking, in terms of representation and ability to participate in making said history. There’s an amazing scene on the underground at the end of the movie, which feels almost like a play, and at first you feel like it might be a little heavy handed.

But when you think of the things that I’m talking about right now, it makes its point extraordinarily well. And that last thing is, thank goodness for social media. I know sometimes we don’t like it. And I know sometimes it can be frustrating. And we’re finding that sometimes it can be will.

That is a political weapon. But I think that when you see a movie like this, you understand that social media has finally allowed the voice of the public to be as powerful as the voice of the elite and the media. So in a perfect movie, naturally, that means the acting is perfect across the board.

But also, of course, Gary Oldman deserves a special shout out. This could, I think, could definitely be argued as the performance of his career. Just what I thought nobody could do a better Winston Churchill Churchill than Lithgow. I also didn’t think anybody could do a better version of King George. We’ve seen a lot of good King Georges come to think of it. And Ben Mendelsohn’s definitely deserves to be on that list.

This acting here is the kind of quality that one expects from British television. And there are a lot of familiar faces from British television here as well. However, I think it is of tremendous credit to Joe Wright that he keeps the whole thing cinematic. Nonetheless, even with all these TV actors on screen, even with a small budget, he pushes this to the cinematic level because of his bold, creative and inventive choices. His ability to plus the material again and again and again is absolutely astounding, not just in what he emphasizes from a story perspective, but also how he has these little moments that are just just so great. Like there’s one. I’ll give one away. A little boy is looking up at Winston Churchill’s plane in the sky and he makes a little telescope with his little hand.

And you see the plane through that hand and then the hand closes. I mean, it’s almost like a like or animation, like in the level of artistry and again, inventiveness. There’s also a painterly quality to the film that would do historical artists proud and delight history buffs. So if you are one of those history buffs or you love the U.K., you don’t have to be from the U.K. to love it, by the way, or find yourself fighting your own battles or perhaps all three of those things and you are going to fall in love with darkest hour. I think it’s a movie that everybody should see everybody. You know, history does repeat itself, but I think that, you know, you can make improvements if you’re familiar with it. I think it’s important to be a student of history.

And I think this is just a top notch. As I said, you just really can’t make a better movie than this. I would put it up there not only with Lincoln in terms of biographical films, you know, political films, but also even Patton. It’s that good. So that’s my thoughts on Darkest Hour. We’ll see how it does award season. I think it’s a shoo in for many, many nominations and we’ll see if it gets any actual wins. All right. Your own thoughts about the movie down below. And you can check out some more videos right now from.

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