Existential sci-fi!

Rating: 8/10 (25 March 2012)

John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) wakes up alone in a strange hotel to find that he has lost his memory and is wanted for a series of brutal and bizarre murders involving hookers. An eccentric doctor, Daniel (Kiefer Sutherland) and his wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly) try to make him get a grasp of things. While trying to piece together his past, he stumbles upon a fiendish underworld cult controlled by a group of beings known as The Strangers who possess the ability to put people to sleep and physically alter the city and its inhabitants lives as they please through the power of their will or telekinetic powers. John discovers that he has the power of The Strangers as well. Now he must find a way to stop them before they take control of his mind and destroy him.
The title "Dark City" is highly apt since there is no sunlight for most of the running time of the movie and the distinct, grainy, dark tone makes the movie feel almost poetic in its nature. The movie establishes the basic premise early on when we are let into the secret that nothing is as it seems and this might all be happening inside our lead, John's head. I was having "The Matrix" feeling over and over again while the movie was unfolding. But it quickly explains itself and we understand that it doesn't happen inside the characters heads. The situations playing out are real, except the people playing them are not who they think they are. This is a mind-bender of a movie which is primarily a mystery thriller at its core. Who are the Strangers? How can John tune into their powers? What do the strangers want with this city folk? Are the Strangers, aliens or mutants? To what end are they experimenting with the people and why is the soul so important to them?
This is a wonderful gem of a movie from Alexander Proyas, the director of "I, Robot", "The Crow" and "Knowing". The movie deals with the human soul and memories. Whether we are the product of our past actions, being ourselves through our memories or being who we are from another core place which has nothing to do with our past, but only our feelings. Proyas tells this complicated story through the actions of the characters. Most of the characters are intriguing and genuinely compelling. Kiefer Sutherland was outstanding in his portrayal of an eccentric scientist who has no memories of his own, but yet wants to defeat the Strangers. I have never seen this side of Jack Bauer and it somehow felt quite satisfying to see this awesome actor as such a varied character. Jennifer Connelly does well with the material that she had. William Hurt as Inspector Frank was amazing. The ending moments with his shoelaces untied, reminding him that his personality may have been switched with his subordinate was powerful. I was waiting for Rufus Sewell to turn into Jude Law for the whole movie! He resembles Law so much and Law would have been a better choice for this movie and it was very distracting. The only letdown of sorts is the climax which is over the top cheesy with the visual effects and one man bringing the system down storyline. He is one guy in a controlled experiment. They still couldn't catch him! Still, this is a very good sci-fi movie with the character interactions and mystery forming a very strong foundation. If you like Inception, The Matrix kind of movies, then this one is for you.
8/10