Survey of reviews

Rating: 10/10 (3 February 1999)

Reviews of Dark City pretty much divide into two camps: those who think that it's a masterpiece, one of the best films of all time, and those who were bored. As a member of the first camp, I suspect that the film went over the heads of the majority of naysayers. While the film tends to polarize opinion much along the same lines as another visually amazing film, Blade Runner, there's more at work here. The expository style that annoys some viewers is an integral piece of the story telling. The viewer is encouraged to share the experience of characters searching for the very nature of reality. It's more than a little ironic that the naysayers perhaps identify most with the
majority of the City's inhabitants, who live the unexamined life, never questioning the biggest of lies.