Great movie but NOT original! **You must read this!**

Rating: 10/10 (13 April 1999)

I'm not going to repeat all the glowing reviews of this movie, although I must say I caught Dark City in the theatre where it was meant to be seen and I begged everyone to go see it but no one listened. Anyway...
At the very end of the director's commentary on the Laserdisc 'special edition' of Dark City, Alex Proyas vehemently denies the rumor that he copied some other movie in making this one. I don't remember which one he named but I remember agreeing with him that he didn't copy that particular movie. In fact I thought that the comparision was ludicrous especially considering my knowledge. However, when he denied any inspiration and claimed that the film was his own work I just about choked. See my review of "Cube" for perhaps another example of this.
Dark City was inspired by an obscure 1980's B&W independent comic book called "Mister X." Before I get a jillion emails arguing with me on this you might actually want to check out the book and finish reading these comments. BTW-I have every issue.
No, the comic book and the movie aren't identical however the similarities are too obvious to be ignored. First one must remember that Alex Proyas has previous experience with this genre. (If you can call it that) His first film, The Crow, was also based on an obscure 1980's B&W independent comic book.
Mister X is about a guy who lives in a city that is called Somnopolis. (Somno from the latin prefix meaning 'sleep') It is know as "the City of Dreams, the City of Nightmares" namely because its citizens have a penchant for falling asleep and going insane. Why? Because the city is constantly changing, shifting, and the architecture is designed all wrong. Any of this sound familiar????
Speaking of the architecture, Somnopolis and the Dark City are basically identical towering-monolithic-dark-film-noir-gotham style buildings. Additionally the citizens, vehicles, and landmarks are styled in the same retro-futuristic-deco designs. Huge clocks loom all over Somnopolis much like the clock in the underground lair of the strangers. Any of this sound familiar?
As far as the plot goes they diverge a bit but ultimately are the same. They both seek the same thing which is 'to save the city and their own souls.' There is no telekinesis in Mister X but rather lots of psychosis as drug use in prevalent as Mister X strives not to fall asleep so that he can complete is goal of fixing the city. His motto is, "So much work, so little time." I think one of the Strangers in Dark City actually uses this line or something very similar. Mister X is pale, bald and wears a long black trench coat, too. Sound Familiar??
Anyway there are a lot more similarities but I think you can see pretty clearly that this work is NOT his own and this movie is NOT original. Don't get me wrong I love this movie - but I also loved it the first time I read it in the pages for Mister X. People should be credited for their work and others should not be able to capitalize on it. I normally wouldn't say anything but for the brash statements made by Mr Proyas on the end of the disc...