Rich, rewarding film

Rating: 10/10 (26 April 2002)

This film is as layered and as deep as you want it to be. If you're just looking for an exciting sf film with aliens, special effects, and a little nudity thrown in for good measure, this is it. But, if you care to delve a little deeper, there's a lot to explore here.
The principle theme is the link, if any, between memory and identity. All of the characters in this film had lives before the film began. But, they have no memory of those lives, and they have no real connection with those lives. The people who they now think that they are may have nothing whatsoever in common with who they "really" are (or, perhaps more accurately, who they "originally" were).
Consider John Murdoch. We've got here your typical action hero with no memory. He doesn't know he's an action hero, he doesn't know his name is John Murdoch (he deduces it). He is carried along by events, pursued by multiple quarters, has friends he can't remember and can't trust, and begins putting together the pieces of a vast mystery. Eventually, he discovers his true powers and decides to take an active role in the proceedings. Standard sf/action plot (and, based on the trailers, it looks like "The Bourne Identity" will run along similar lines). Of course, as others have noted, it bears a certain similarity to "The Matrix", which is a tour de force of incredible special effects, great fight scenes, and truly horrible acting in service of a shoddy, predictable, and poorly structured script.
But anyway, look beyond that and consider the issues involved. Is John Murdoch a murderer? Consider the question "Who is John Murdoch?" John Murdoch is not a "real" person with a "real" history. He is a fiction. He was created by the Strangers as part of their macabre experiment. According to the Strangers' plan, he is a murderer. Therefore, yes, John Murdoch is a murderer. He caught his wife cheating on him, and snapped, and went out on a rampage killing prostitutes (and seriously, isn't that exactly what you would do?... uh, well, nevermind).
But then, is the character portrayed by Rufus Sewell a murderer? Seems not. He's very disturbed early in the film as he begins to find the evidence that suggests that he killed those prostitutes. He doesn't want to kill prostitutes, has no reason to kill prostitutes, and is very upset at the thought that he may have killed prostitutes. Which leads to the inescapable conclusion that the character portrayed throughout this film by Rufus Sewell is not John Murdoch (though he does have fragments of Murdoch's memories). In fact, in a fascinating twist, John Murdoch ends up being played by Richard O'Brien, which confirms for us, if any confirmation is needed, that Murdoch is a murderer.
What the film seems to suggest, and it's an unappealing idea, is that identity and memory are precisely the same thing. Mr. Hand becomes John Murdoch when he acquires the memories of John Murdoch. Rufus Sewell's character is not John Murdoch because he does not have those memories.

So we reach the conclusion of the film, where we have the primary philosophical dispute between this film and The Matrix. Sewell's character has defeated the Strangers by appropriating their power, and not stands God-like over their abandoned city. He reshapes it according to his own desires. Presumably, with all of his powers, he'd be able to return himself and everyone else to Earth (from whence, presumably, they had been abducted). But he chooses a pleasing fiction over an uncertain reality. This is precisely the choice of Joe Pantoliano's character in The Matrix (and, because his character is a "villain" betraying the heroes, the audience understands this to be the wrong choice). So, The Matrix values truth above experience. Between to alternatives, one good and one bad, the one which corresponds to truth is preferred. The truth-value of the situation trumps whatever other value is concerned. But in Dark City, the truth value is irrelevant. John Murdoch (and now, finally, Sewell is John Murdoch, but a new Murdoch created by Dr. Schreber, not a murderer, but with many of the same core memories, such as Shell Beach and Uncle Karl) freely chooses a life which he knows to be false (because he created it).

I've always said that Joe Pantoliano's character was the only intelligent character in The Matrix. I stand by that. He was wrong to betray his friends, yes, but he was right in recognizing that ignorance is bliss. This film shows us that fact clearly.
It's also a terrific story, well-acted, marvelously directed, with incredible sets, stunning visuals, and a quick pace that never lags.