A Sci-Fi Masterpiece on the level of Star Wars

Rating: 10/10 (11 September 2007)

There are great films and then there are masterpieces. Dark City falls in the later category. The Sci-Fi genre hasn't much to it's name, Metropolis, Star Wars,Empire Strikes Back and 2001 are the only true stand outs that come to mind. Dark City is brilliant on the level of those films.
Alex Proyas creates a world that is largely his own but still owes a lot to Fritz Lang's Metropolis. The set direction for Dark City is absolutely amazing. Every shot is beautiful to look at. It's a sin that the film didn't get an Oscar for art direction.
Proyas respects the art of film-making and tries to put as much as he can into each shot of the movie. I've heard he would go second after second in every moment in the film and this story is very easy to believe.
The heart of Dark City and why it is so great is it's story. It's a brilliant Orwellian thriller about a group of alien creatures called the Strangers who try to find the human soul and extract it to prolong their extinction. They inject new memories into the residents of their city every night hoping to find something deeper in us. Rufus Sewell stars as John Murdoch, a man who resists his new memory. The Strangers have placed him in quite the predicament, he wakes in a hotel room with a dead prostitute near his bedside. A scientist named Schrebber puts John on the path to discover what is behind this world. Through the search for answers John discovers that he is gaining the Strangers power. Like the Strangers John also needs to discover what love and emotions are before the journey's end.
The Matrix comparisons are unavoidable. To the people who say Matrix is better I say to you, What movie did you watch? Dark City is much much much more intelligent, more attractive visually and has a better cast than Matrix. Murdoch is a much more potent hero than Neo the comic book cut out. Dark City deals with real emotions and theological themes where Matrix is a good action film at best.
The cast is terrific as well. Kiefer Sutherland, Richard O'Brien and William Hurt all give the best performances of their career here. Sewell is an unexpected delight as Murdoch. He is able to relay great emotion and makes the character complex and interesting. We get the feeling he is trying to open Pandora's box as he sifts through his memories and souls.
Sci-Fi fans savor this movie. It's not often the audience is treated with respect and delivered with an intelligent masterpiece.