Dark City (1998)

Review by Sean Patterson



"Poor, poor Mr. Quick." Though marketed as a horror film, Dark City is more of a dystopian noir. That's not to say there aren't some genuinely horrific scenes in the film, and, depending on your sensibilities, it might be considered terrifying. John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a bathtub with amnesia. He doesn't know where he is, but he is surrounded by all the trappings of a normal bachelor life. Only Murdoch's confusion an the very ominous music clue the audience in that something is wrong. A phone call on a rotary phone from a strange man claiming to be a doctor informs Murdoch that he has lost his memory and that people are coming for him. The murdered woman in the bedroom is all the impetus Murdoch needs to run from the creepy bald men (and boy) that quickly arrive. These pale, stretched bald people speak without affect and have the strange powers that allow them to fly and rearrange the architecture of the city . Has he been framed? How were his memories lost? Or were they stolen? These questions propel a film that quickly becomes about more than amnesia and running from danger. William Hurt plays Detective Bumstead, the officer assigned to solve the murder of the dead woman. It seems she is just one in a series of murdered hookers, and Murdoch is now the prime suspect. As the mysteries surrounding Murdoch, his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly), and the strange Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) are revealed, the deeper mystery of the city in which they live becomes the focus. The murder mystery becomes window dressing for a story grander than any normal human concern. While the movie stars some great actors and actresses, the noir conceit at the beginning and, later, the reality of who their characters are prevents them from displaying their talents. The forced and exposition-laden dialogue is the movie's weak spot. Sewell does an admirable job of looking confused and afraid, both of himself and what he discovers. Hurt's character is bland: a "fastidious man" who is only allowed one facial expression. Connelly is so much voluptuous eye-candy, since her character could easily have been written out of the screenplay. Only Kiefer Sutherland comes away with a solid and fun performance. His doctor Schreber is quirky and not quite sane. It is never clear until the end whether he is trying to help Murdoch or not. It is usually bad when the music in a movie is noticeable, but in Dark City the music is part of the city itself. The excellent score is intertwined with the noises of the city, and the effect creates a sense of foreboding and danger for most of the movie. When events in the city come to a head, the music changes appropriately, becoming the more standard movie-climax bombast. Dark City is heavily stylised. The visuals are easily the best aspect of the movie. Every frame is beautiful and director Alex Proyas has done an excellent job creating a detailed and warped atmosphere. The city is convincingly damp and gritty. The great noir films of the past were heavy influences here: the men wear fedoras and stalk through shadows while the women wear shapely dresses that compliment their blood-red lips. T he special effects hold up as well. I was unable to tell whether some form of CGI was implemented in some scenes or whether is was some other special effect. Either way, the effects fit well with the fantastical and dark atmosphere of the movie. Some of the reasons for those effects are quite silly if you stop to think about them, but you won't want to. Dark City does a superb job of capturing your imagination and holding it hostage, which turns out to be a major theme of the movie. You will be captivated from the mysterious beginning to the mind and city-bending end. 7/10