Review of Dark City (1998) by Marty H — 13 Jun 2013

I like Sci-fi-Noirish films, especially ones that have a secret alternate universes with pasty alien men that look like Hellraiser minus the needles and float through the air. Nearly everyone in this city lived their confused, manipulated lives in a sun-less prison without ever knowing they were enslaved. Until a hero evolved and was guided and trained (by Dr. Frankenstein's sidekick Kiefer Sutherland) to realize and utilize his new powers in order to take down the establishment.

This film set the precedent for many Matrix and Inception-like movies to come but I won't be hailing it as a classic or purchasing the DVD. It was good to watch and to know where so many ideas have stemmed from. It also added a new twist to the Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Twilight Zone-era concepts with intelligent writing and some pretty cool special effects.

Dark City is a commendable achievement for its time, but not one of my favorites. Maybe I was spoiled by the Matrix and the trilogy it spawned from 1999-2003. Dark City is one of those films that I would cherish more reading in a book whereas The Matrix had enough money invested in its special effects to truly make the story memorable and believable! Nonetheless, this film made it to the screen before The Matrix, it had a pretty solid cast supporting it, and Director/Producer/and Screenwriter Alex Proyas did a pretty good job making sense of it all.

3/5.