A classic sci-fi thriller, brilliant!!

Rating: 10/10 (6 April 2002)

This is such a great film. The matrix with a hint of blade runner and a touch of the crow, this film is a visual tour-de-force! The plot is highly imaginative. It is a difficult film to explain, its one you must see yourself, but basically it centres on a man, played by Rufus Sewell, who wakes up in a bath tub with no memory of who he is, he also finds a dead body and then finds he is the lead suspect for a series of brutal murders. The city he is in has strange features to it, at midnight every single inhabitant is in a state of comatose, and he soon finds that the city is actually an experiment into the human soul, run by strange looking aliens who look like the legend himself Pinhead. The film has plenty of great twists and is always developing right towards a fantastic finish. The acting is top notch by all concerned including Sewell in the lead, William Hurt as a police officer, Richard O Brien and the beautiful Jennifer Connelly. She was in fact the reason I bought the film on DVD, I have always fancied her since I was younger after Labyrinth. Anyway she is good in this despite being voice-overed for some singing scenes. Overall the film is brilliant but its not the acting, or the impressive story that stand out but the amazing effects and stunning visuals. The director Alex Proyas, who did the superb Crow, directs this film brilliantly. His visual style is dark and eerie and his film really unsettles. I was engrossed throughout becuase of the immersive atmosphere built up. Also for a low budget movie, the film had some of the most jaw dropping special effects I have ever seen, I would not have imagined how you could have done these sort of visuals outside of cartoons. The special effects, such as growing buildings, will truely leave you flabbergasted. 10/10 this must goe down as a visual, sci-fi classic like Blade runner. Also not only did the Matrix use some sets from this film but the Wacowski brothers must have got the odd piece of inspiration from this film.