Review: Darkest Hour

It's not often that we have more than one film that focuses on the same subject that are released so close to each other. June 2017 saw the release of 'Churchill', where the lead character was played very well by Brian Cox. Sadly, there wasn't much else exceptional after that. I think the choice of story was a bad one as it was during the end of World War II, where Churchill was not at his strong point.

However, this particular release that I'm concentrating on is concentrating on the moment that saw Churchill at his strongest and the time in his life that made him many people's greatest Brit of all-time.

This one is directed by Joe Wright, who many people will know for doing Atonement and Pride & Prejudice. But despite half of his previous works having Keira Knightley as the leading lady, she is not involved with this one.

Leading the way in this one, is Gary Oldman and he is nothing short of great. The makeup and prosthetics are phenomenal and deserve an Oscar. But the whole thing does feel like a full transformation, even though you can see part of Oldman in the face as well as the performance.

Lily James was strong and solid in her supporting role. Ever since her great portrayal in Cinderella as the title character, she has been involved in many big British projects.

Kristin Scott Thomas as usual was really good, despite not being as integral of a character as I expected. As for Ben Mendelsohn, I think he did a great job, and he continues his strong streak from his contribution to Rogue One.

The performances was definitely the strongest part of the film. Their engaging style really helped the story move along throughout. The first act showed a lot of content that I knew very little about beforehand. That got me invested in the right way to keep me gripped to the end.

The final act could the make or break moment for many people. It does get a bit too patriotic, flag-wavey and crowd-pleasing at times. It also includes one scene that could leave a bitter taste as it can come off as very showy and sugar-coated. But to me, it still felt moving and engaging.

I think what I got from it the most was the humanisation of Winson Churchill. His personality, struggles and the risk he took to become the man he is known for today was great to watch. It almost had a similar tone to Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, but with that essential British humor.

I won't be surprised, if some people claim it to be Oscar-bait as it is the type of film that ticks the boxes into 'how to win an Oscar'. But I felt pretty much all of the theatrical moments to be fairly strong, natural and entertaining.

Even though I feel there are a healthy amount of better WWII films, both old and new. This still is a really entertaining watch that many people can have a good time watching. It is always a struggle to make a film entertaining even though you obviously what is going to happen. I think they made the story move along at the right pace to make it engaging enough.

But what makes me give this film an exceptional rating is mainly due to Oldman's performance. It carries the film so well. However, there is still plenty of strong aspects to look out for. I think director Joe Wright's style works well with this film. We see a lot of similarities to this from Atonement. From the way its cut, to the long camera tracking, the tone, its overall look and even the use of a typewriter.

You can almost track the timeline of WWII from just four films that have come out in the last year. You begin with Darkest Hour, then Dunkirk, then Their Finest and finish it with Churchill where Brian Cox plays the the title character.

Also, with Ridley Scott looking to re-make Battle Of Britain soon, we could have ourselves a modern World War II franchise.

Rating: 8/10