Atmospheric and dark mixture of sci-fi, comic book horror and film noir

Rating: 7/10 (29 April 2015)

Alex Proyas' "Dark City" (1998) stars Rufus Sewell as John Murdoch, a man who wakes up one night to great mysteries. There's a dead prostitute nearby that he gets blamed for murdering, but he can't remember much of anything. Several people seek him in the ensuing night hours: a somewhat mad doctor played by Kiefer Sutherland, a detective played by William Hurt, his estranged wife played by Jennifer Connelly, a hot woman of the night played by Melissa George and a bizarre group of pale bald males in black trench coats. The story follows Murdoch as he tries to piece together reality and escape the perpetually dark city.
You have to be in the mood for a movie like this because it takes place entirely on elaborate shadowy sets with CGI backgrounds, etc. The first time I tried to watch it I gave up after 20 minutes. But, if you're in the right mode, this is a cool sci-fi flick with elements of horror/mystery and film noir. It never devolves into predictable blockbuster dreck and is thought-provoking. The revelation of the nature of the city is well done. In addition, Sewell makes for a top-rate protagonist and William Hurt is always likable. Many complain about Kiefer's offbeat performance, but the role called for it. If you don't like it blame the writers.
On the female front you have Jennifer Connelly when she was still curvy and ravishing (by the early 2000s she lost too much weight and lost her sexiness). Melissa George is gorgeous in her small role as a bad girl.
My interest in "Dark City" was spurred by Roger Ebert's exuberant accolades. He was so impressed by the illusion of the vast scope of the city, which can be attributed to the well-done CGI backgrounds and accouterments beyond the immediate exemplary sets. Of course, this is no big deal today, but at the time it was still fairly new technology.
Some people compare "Dark City" to the more popular "The Matrix" and for good reason since they have similar themes and "The Matrix" was actually shot on some of the same sets, but it came out over a year later in 1999.
The film runs 100 minutes and the Director's Cut 111 minutes; it was shot on sets in Sydney, Australia.
GRADE: B+