Finding our humanity

Rating: 7/10 (30 July 2013)

Dark City begins with an opening voice-over narration which basically gives the whole plot away. Fans of the film hated this and in a later cut of the film the narration was removed. It does seem logical that a movie which has so many mysterious elements shouldn't reveal all its secrets in the first thirty seconds. But in this case the narration probably served the film well. Because what is going on in this film is very weird, exceedingly bizarre and not particularly easy to comprehend unless you have some solid base of initial knowledge to fall back on. And there are still enough twists, turns and impactful surprises to make the film very compelling. Giving the audience a little help at the beginning paid off. Otherwise by the time the film finally fully revealed itself many people may have been too lost, too confused, too frustrated to appreciate what they had seen. And there is so much to appreciate.
It also must be said that having the story laid out in such detail early on allows the audience to accept that story much easier. It is a story which requires tremendous leaps of faith. Without sufficient grounding the story may ultimately have proved to be just too strange for many people to take. Even with so many of its secrets given away right at the start the story still manages to grab you. A man wakes up in a bathtub. He can't seem to remember anything. His forehead is bleeding. There's a dead woman on the floor. And then the phone rings, someone tells him he needs to run away now because they are coming to get him. Who are "they"? Who knows? Anyway, the man flees and the movie kicks into high gear very quickly. The man is John Murdoch. Or is he? It becomes clear very quickly that nothing in this city is exactly what it seems. John Murdoch is not the only person here with vanished memories. He doesn't really know who he is. Nobody does. But nobody besides John realizes anything is amiss. It is up to him to unravel the mystery. What he discovers will shock both him and us. The film packs quite a dramatic punch and raises serious questions about humanity. What makes us human? This film's mysterious Strangers need to know the answer to that question.
It is the Strangers who drive the plot. They can manipulate the physical environment of the city, creating new buildings and changing the form of existing ones in mere moments with just the power of their minds. And yet none of the humans ever notice anything has changed. And it is not just the buildings the Strangers change, they have a rather insidious, invasive way of changing the people themselves. Then the Strangers sit back and see what happens. The humans, unknowingly, are their lab rats. John however is resistant to the efforts of the Strangers. Not only that he apparently shares their powers. With the help of a police detective he sets out to find the truth and to give the citizens of the city back their humanity, give them back a sense of who they really are.
Rufus Sewell does very well with the challenging role of John Murdoch, a man who does not know who he is. Sewell captures the original bewilderment well and then grows with the character as John finds the strength and determination to put an end to whatever is going on here. William Hurt plays the detective who ends up assisting John, Jennifer Connelly plays John's wife. They both end up very confused and Hurt and Connelly give very good performances as their characters try to figure out what the heck is going on here. Richard O'Brien is appropriately creepy playing the film's most prominent Stranger. Perhaps the only misstep comes from Kiefer Sutherland playing a doctor mixed up in the activities of the Strangers. Sutherland plays the role with a stammer which becomes distracting and annoying very quickly. It's a little bit of weirdness the film didn't need, it adds nothing to the character and the film's plenty weird enough already. But that quibble aside the film generally works very well. It is a fascinating, intriguing, thought-provoking story. Visually the film looks spectacular with wonderful set design and brilliantly executed effects. Perhaps the film goes a little overboard with the effects near the end. The story gets somewhat left behind as things wrap up with a big visual effects blowout. You can't help but think this very smart film deserved a little bit smarter of an ending. But the film ultimately is more than satisfying enough. It entertains you and it also makes you think which is always a good combination. Dark City's story is a very complex web to weave your way through, having had a little guidance at the start surely couldn't have hurt. And when you get to the end you'll look back and be grateful for the long, strange, fascinating trip the film took you on.