Blockbuster quality on meagre budget for those who are prepared to just go with it

Rating: 8/10 (2 April 2009)

Alex Proyas could turn out to be one of the most important big budget movie directors of coming years. He's demonstrated this successfully here by crafting an everyman-saves- everyone yar on a meagre budget, which performs well above the norm. The consensus view is that he has achieved this by avoiding big studio tinkering. This results in dynamic twists and turns that confound expectations – whilst still being a disposable dumb as nuts blockbuster flik - for those looking for big screen adventure. For most of the film Nic Cage seems a bit clueless as to what's going on – but fear not as this works a treat - as his character is also over taken by events he is powerless to control – so is Nic's acting, which fits well with his characters plight. The plot outline is nothing new, being a classic B-movie formula of mundane events that lead to major catastrophe – but Alex Proyas finds unique ways of telling and resolving the story and, without studio interference, introduces vivid flights of fancy that I for one did not see coming. I'm off to buy Dark City Director Cut on DVD.