A Keaton Review: Darkest Hour

By: Keaton Marcus

Genre/War/Drama

Age Rating/12+

Lemonradar/93% sweet

Introduction

Hi, this is Keaton Marcus from Sweet and Sour Movie Reviews and today I will be reviewing Gary Oldman’s newest film, Darkest Hour. In the midst of World War II, when Neville Chamberlain, the current prime minister of England becomes in-capable of leading the nation during the war and must resign by the order of King George VI. The next man in line must be Winston Churchill whom everybody dislikes and cannot get over with. Churchill must not just deal with the stupidity of the Press but must prove to Europe that he will find a way to stop and win the war.

How Was The Cast?

Most of the cast were very interesting choices, almost all-British and very talented including superstar Gary Oldman as the famous historical part of Winston Churchill. More of the cast includes Ben Mendelson as King George VI, Lilly James as the famous typewriter Elizabeth Layton and even actress Kirsten Scott Thomas as Churchill's wife, Clementine. As I have said we saw award-winning actor Gary Oldman known for The Dark Knight trilogy, Robocop, Lawless, the Harry Potter franchise, the Planet of the Apes franchise etc. Really making the portrait of leadership come to life, Oldman delivered one of his most brilliant, most thoughtful and touchingly real performance of his career with wonderful surrounding cast members and talented director and a dramatic, even funny script that works infinitely with the fact that the actor was an interesting and risky choice as the plump Prime Minister.Then we have actor Ben Mendelson known for Ready Player One, Rogue One, The Dark Knight trilogy etc. as leader of the time, King George VI. All though sometimes having the spotlight taken with Oldman's stunning performance, but Mendelson holds his own with deep character development, clever script writing and a wonderfully-fitting accent as the King, and while there have been better carnations of the famous historical figure, the actor manages another satisfying take on the character. Thirdly we saw young actress  Again a very odd choice by director Joe Wright but surprisingly resulted in greatness and extreme believability and realness and bravely taking on the unknowingly spectacular person Layton was seeing Lilly James’ famous role in Cinderella not to waste as she molds her genius script, familiar appearance and joyful attitude into this well-done, simple, but wide role helping the movie up a great notch even when the narrative stutters a little. Lastly we have British actress Kirsten Scott Thomas known for Mission: Impossible, The Invisible Woman, Only God Forgives, The Party etc. as Churchill's wife, Clementine. With earlier veteran-like performances in many acclaimed movies, the actress immediately wows the audiences with her downright charming accent, colorful charisma and having more than enough conviction and talent to carry the extremely important role, and although not the biggest character in a movie full of them, the role of Clementine happens to be just as realized to the audience as other parts because of the actress behind it giving another cherished and unforgettable performance to her career.    

Quality

Although there are much better choices for directing than debuting filmmaker Joe Wright, this accomplishment gives Wright an amazing debut and a hopeful start to a lengthy and successful career. Working with a talented (and hard-working) cast, stylish production value, a wonderfully constructed story and plot, and enough sense of old-fashion charm that it does not only tower over most War movies, in the future it will become a certain classic as many other related films have become including Patton, Bridge Over the River Kwai and The Great Escape which all are a level down from this magnificent acheivment. Starting with the directing we see unexperienced Joe Wright at the wheel. Storytelling wise, Wright's brilliant directing, ensemble cast, chemistry and handsomely produced film does more than enough to cover up for the slow, although not too overlong running time. Also clever enough to beat most War classics, as I have said before, Darkest Hour is a true modern classic that should ring true to everyone with the strength to carry it in, and although it is not as exciting as some, it is more constructed and sophisticated than other Action/Thriller War flicks. 

Aging ‘Churchill’

Finally this review will come to an end with the final judgement on whether this movie is right for the kids or not. Beginning with the violence you see no bloody or grisly battle or war scenes, but in small two minute sequences throughout the movie there is some explosions coming from German bombs, soldiers firing guns and some dead men on the ground which could be a little tear raking, but overall there is not a lot of violence you would normally see in War films so instead in judging over that you must think about whether your kid can handle such a long, hard to sit through movie with almost the whole span of the movie consisting of talking. Concluding that you will witness some heated language, but nothing abnormal for slow dramas with common uses of s..t,  good god, up your bum, god damn and bugger so as you can see nothing to much to worry about. Lastly there is nothing much to say about the sexuality or adult situations level in the film limited to known relationships between Churchill and his wife and one quick scene where Ms. Layton catches a quick glimpse of under Churchill’s robe when he sits up. Overall you limit it to maturity for any sort of violence, some mild uses of language in arguments and nothing to worry about in the sex level and basing off of the info I give an age rating of 12+.

Drama Smash Down

Darkest Hour 95% sweet

Violence: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Sex: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Language: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Age Rating: 12+

The Post 90% sweet

Violence: ⭐☆☆☆☆

Sex: ☆☆☆☆☆

Language: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆

Age Rating: 12+

Darkest Hour 95% sweet

Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Post 90% sweet

Storyline: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Cast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Role Models: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

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