On the Couch

DVD REVIEW

The Darkest Hour ****
Directed by: Chris Gorak
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Rachael Taylor, Max Minghella, Joel Kinnaman

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengence *
Directed by: Neveldine/Taylor
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Violante Placido, Idris Elba

For the second time in a couple of weeks a (relatively) low budget sci-fi film has come along with little or no fanfare and left me both surprised and delighted.
The first was Chronicle, the surprisingly imaginative teens with superpowers film, and this week it’s The Darkest Hour.
Directed by Chris Gorak and produced by Timur Bekmambetov (of Nightwatch, Daywatch and Wanted fame), it’s a sci-fi apocalypse affair involving Earth’s invasion by a race of invisible, seemingly electricity-based life forms with the ability to disintegrate organic matter.
Two up-and-coming internet entrepreneurs, Ben and Sean (Emile Hirsch and Max Minghella) find themselves in Moscow on business.
When their deal goes bad, they head to a local nightclub to drown their sorrows and get a front row seat to the start of the invasion. Clever clogs that they are, however, they manage to find a spot to hide out – along with two girls and their recent business rival – emerging into the world a day or so later that has been largely stripped of life and power.
From there it’s a creepy march across the Russian capital as the five survivors try to work out if they’re alone in the city and if there’s any hope for escape.
It’s surprisingly creepy stuff at times as it is revealed early on that the only way to spot the aliens is when electrical equipment – anything from a lightbulb to a siren – starts working.
The tension continues because none of the main characters are anything other than normal. There isn’t rippling-muscled alpha male or female type on hand to deal with the fighting so every time there’s some trouble there’s an honest sense of jeopardy.
That is until about halfway through when things get a little silly but agreeably so.
The cast, led by Hirsch, are all competent but none of them are so obviously famous as to presume them indispensable. It’s one of the things to be relished most about films like this. You can never tell who might be next to fall foul of electro aliens.
While it’s far from perfect – the story’s a bit hackneyed and the script occasionally stinks worse than a cheese vendors convention on a hot summer’s day, there’s enough tension, invention and excitement to keep you cramming popcorn into your craw while perched on the edge of your sofa.
From one pleasant surprise to a film of ominous awfulness.
They say there are no certainties in life beyond death and taxes. I have another to add to the list – you can bet you bottom dollar that when they make a Ghost Rider film it’s going to stink like month-old tuna.
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is an unusual animal in that it’s a reboot of the Rider franchise but keeps the star of the last, unsuccessful attempt at the title.
The story sees the Rider trying to redeem the soul he sold in exchange for his father’s life by saving a young boy from the Devil (Ciarán Hinds). The slight wrinkle in the plan is that the kid is actually the Anti-Christ and Old Nick has souped up one of his flunkies with some nasty super powers to make sure that nothing comes between him and his family reunion.
Nic Cage once again dons the flaming skull of vengence and, for the first 40 minutes or so of scene-setting and plot-building Spirit of Vengance is actually quite a lot of fun. Cage is always fun to watch playing almost comically crazy characters – he was super in The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call – New Orleans for example – and the rest of the cast are all capable. Unfortunately the money seems to run out at around the 45 minute mark and everything, EVERYTHING from the script to the locations and every other damn thing goes to hell (and not in a good way).
Spirit of Vengance squeeks towards an unsatisfying ending, looks like a student film with one really good visual effect and leaves you feeling like you’d sell your soul to get the last 90 minutes of your life back.