A great film led by a powerful performance

Rating: 8/10 (17 January 2018)

This film has been heralded recently with a really strong lead performance and I have now seen darkest hour and I really enjoyed this film with a really strong lead performance. The premise of the film is set at the beginning of world War 2 and sees new prime minister Winston Churchill dealing with the grips of war. Gary Oldman plays Churchill in this film and he owns the screen throughout the entire film, he physically transformed for the role and it does give him a great presence on screen. He just delivers a truly passionate performance that provides some great moments in the film. Lily James plays his personal typist in the film and she does a good job giving some good emotion to the role and I felt her and oldmans chemistry worked very well. Ben mendehlson plays the King of England in the film and he does a good job with some of his scenes with Oldman being the most invigorating of the film. There are some good performances from the other politicians in the film and shows an interesting side that I wasn't aware of. The story as mentioned before has some interesting elements to it especially as it sees different conflicting ideas that make you see both sides of the argument. However, this film for me shares alot in similarities with last years 'Churchill' film that it was hard sometimes to get emotionally invested. The script is really good, it provides some great dramatic scenes that really build up the suspense well, also this film provides some good humour that makes these characters especially Churchill seem more human. The style of the film makes it seem very old school and with a look of the times it was set which is done well. Though, this film at times comes across as Oscar bait and over the top when it isn't necessary. Overall though this is a really enjoyable film that might give Oldman a chance at his first Oscar.