Confusion, darkness, fear, vague memories...

Rating: 10/10 (1 December 2001)

These are the feelings that plague John Murdock as he wanders through the grand world of 'Dark City'. Everywhere he looks, even more confusing thoughts assault his vacant mind. He doesn't know who he is, he doesn't know where he is, and... Didn't he see that person somewhere else, doing something else just yesterday. Where is the sun? Where is the weather? Where is the mythical Shell Beach that everyone recalls fondly yet cannot seem to find? Are the building's really changing before his very eyes? Is John the killer he suspects himself to be? And most importantly, who are the strange, albino-skinned men who are chasing him?
These are the sensations that run through your mind as well as John's as you watch "Dark City", one of the best sci-fi movies ever made. Without any idea as to what is going on, what is really going on, you will be pulled and yanked through one layer after another, hoping to find out what's going on, fearing what lies behind every corner. Our hero soon realizes, no part of the city is safe, the very ground is controlled by the enemy, and not even his fellow man can do anything to help him. Yet this is not a movie about hopelessness, this is a movie about inspiration, hope, and love. This is a movie that asks if you forgot everything you knew tomorrow, would you still be the man you are or would you become something better, or worse?
I've heard a lot of people say a lot of bad things about this movie. They say the acting is bland, and the characters one-sided and empty. They say the "strangers" look like "Cenobites" and the effects are straight out of Gilliam. I ask you to think about it though:
The characters are empty, with memories being switched constantly, losing a little more of what they are with every lost thought. They wander in a dreamy haze, devoid of real emotion, being given love and hate in a shiny glass cylinder every couple of days.
The Strangers do look a bit like Cenobites, but you wrap anybody in leather and they will look a bit like those horrific characters. Yet you do not see the Cenobites don trenchcoats and hats to try and blend in while they stalk their prey, now do they? Sooner or later two things are going to look just enough alike and we scream bloody murder. You can only have a character don so many outfits before he looks like someone else.
Gilliam has affected everyone. His outlandish style and wonderous effects will aways be idolized by half of hollywood and imitated by the other half. Dark City happens to hit middle ground, being just enough plaguerism to be praising.
OH, and on a final note, mute the first few minutes of the movie, right up until the camera enters John's bathroom. Trust me, you'll enjoy it immensely.