My Review of "Darkest Hour"

As of the writing of this review it's been 2 weeks that the world has been put on lock down because of the world pandemic we're experiencing. There hasn't been much to do but watch movies and play video games.

I didn't now much about Darkest Hour and really I was hesitant to watch the movie. Who needs to watch a boring political drama about World War II at a time like this? Well, beggars can't be choosers so I thought I'd give it a try and boy was I glad I did. This has to be the best movie I've stumbled onto in since we started the quarantine.

This movie starts off in the middle of World War II in the United Kingdoms. Morale in the UK is probably the lowest it's ever been because of the lack of action from Prime Minister Chamberlain, played by Ronald Pickup. Chamberlain is forced to resign but they need a replacement.

The obvious replacement was this man named Halifax, played by Stephen Dillane. He declined the appointment because of the dire circumstances the UK was in. That just goes to show you how bad of a situation the UK was in. Instead they chose a person that they didn't think would do well, Winston Churchill, played by Gary Oldman.

Churchill comes off as a very brash, rude and crusty old man. He scares people even the king, played by Ben Mendelsohn. There are a ton of people in parliament that want to get rid of him. Fortunately for them, Churchill is a resilient and persistent man. He actually warned his party of the impending dangers of the Nazi regime.

Without giving away too much, for those that don't read the history books the UK was triumphant in the war thanks to the leadership of Churchill. This movie gives us a glimpse of what had happened in the background and there is a lot that happens.

They talked about how the government wasn't really able to connect with the general public. Most of the government consisted of aristocrats and noblemen. The movie even commenced with Churchill claiming that he had never taken public transportation before. It was vital that the government to be able to connect with its citizens.

Since most of the government is so far detached from the citizens they were actually considering a peace treaty with the Nazi's. For the majority of the movie Chamberlain and Halifax were pushing Churchill to sign a peace treaty with the Nazi's. To be fair, I could see their point in such a bad situation. They didn't want to see anyone die and in the back of their heads they might have thought that they could still assume sovereignty of the UK. It was interesting to see the change of heart certain characters felt throughout the movie. They did a good job putting us in the shoes of the leaders at the time.

It's also a nice transition to the movie Dunkirk. I loved that movie and they talk about the details of what happened in the background for Dunkirk to happen. It was a very pivotal battle for the UK. Watching the movie Dunkirk I didn't realize how big of a deal it really was until I saw this movie.

If you need another reason to watch this movie, I'd say it's the acting and the detail that they put into the movie since it's a period piece. The mood and decor of the movie definitely fits into the World War II aesthetics. I know they put prosthetic makeup on Gary Oldman for his role but I couldn't tell. He really looked and acted as what I would expect a Winston Churchill would look and act. Gary Oldman is like a chameleon. He seems to be able to really envelop his roles and really make us feel like he's somebody different. This was an incredible role for him.

Overall, I really loved this movie. I couldn't believe that I was enjoying a political drama as much as I did with this one. The filmmakers really made me root for the UK. I was that into it and happily continued to fall for the movie. I have to give this movie a 9 out of 10. It's a movie that I will definitely be recommending to others especially in this dire time we're living in. If someone asks me to watch this with them, I would gladly do so.