A review of one of the most brilliant, ground-breaking films ever made : DARK CITY

Rating: Null/10 (30 September 1998)

Dark City : Movie Review by Adam Hawkes
Director Alex Proyas (The Crow) has a triumph on his hands with his latest movie Dark City. The film is about a world in which there exists no sunlight and not a person who knows what his actual past is. A group of "men" called Strangers have created a city in hopes of learning what makes us human. With the help of the neurotic Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) they swap humans' memories around and observe the results. A man named John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) has somehow gained the Strangers' ability to "tune"; he can move and shape matter by concentrating. John is framed as a murderer and given the memories of one to test if memories are the only things that make us human. He is tracked down by police inspector Frank Bumstead (William Hurt) and he learns from the distressed ex-detective Walenski (Colin Friels) that the world he lives in is a sham. His quest to find his home at Shell Beach brings him to the truth; he finds out what his world is made of and what it is about humans that the Strangers failed to see. The acting is noteworthy. Rufus Sewell adeptly portrays the desperate, perturbed character of Murdoch. Kiefer Sutherland is perfectly maniacal. Jennifer Connelly (Higher Learning, Labyrinth) adds a touch of elegance, playing John's wife Emma, a lounge act singer. The disturbingly slim and pale Strangers are played as emotionless villains sharing the same appearance and consciousness, yet some of them have distinct personalities. The gloomy soundtrack flows well with powerful images of looming, imposing buildings and the Strangers' nightmarish underworld. The only real weakness the movie has is that it explains itself too often. Dark City unfolds like a complex dream with its distinctive script, eerie soundtrack, great acting, and engrossing, artistic visuals.
© Adam Hawkes, 1998
(This review was written the day after the author saw the film in a theatre. It was submitted to the IMDB months later.)
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