Dark City (1998)

I really cannot remember what sparked my interest in this movie or motivated me to add it to my Netflix queue. But this sci-fi film came in the mail with me knowing nothing about it... I forgot that it was even coming in the first place. When I sat down to watch it, I soon found out that I had rented a gem.
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Much like The Matrix, this is a dark and stylistically awesome movie in which the viewer must struggle to piece together what is or is not real. How The Matrix could turn into a phenomenon while Dark City was almost instantly forgotten (or never part of one's consciousness - like me), doesn't seem to make a lot of sense because both are excellent... science fiction at its finest. However, I'm going to end with Matrix comparisons there because Dark City is its own movie and one that is too good to have to be put up head to head with another.
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The movie begins in complete confusion with our hero John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) waking up naked in the bathtub of a dingy hotel room with a dead woman laying nearby. John doesn't remember anything at all, he doesn't know who he is let alone if he's a murderer. But John hasn't necessarily lost his memory like Guy Pierce in Memento; this is a different case. His only link to knowledge comes from the handicapped yet frightening psychiatrist, Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) whose allegiances cannot be trusted. John also turns to his wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly), who doesn't know what to believe or what to do anymore, but her love is the only thing in the movie that doesn't change at some point. Even with knowledge from the doctor and love from his wife, John can't avoid the police led by Inspector Bumstead (William Hurt) who wants him on charges of muder that he knows nothing about. But much worse for John is being on the run from a group of terrorfying aliens known as The Strangers. These aliens aren't just evil for the sake of being evil like Aliens or Independence Day. They have their own motivations for what they do.
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The Strangers are a dying race. Running out of options on what to do for survival they turn to humans. Their studies are all in hope of making themselves a little human themselves. They have the appearance of a human albeit a gaunt and hairless appearance reminiscent of the iconic vampire in Nosferatu. To find out what humans think they use their god-like mind powers to set up something that resembles a giant experiment with the human race. But why must they concentrate on poor John Murdoch so much? I don't want to say too much but John is very unique and seems to have skipped a few rungs on the evolution ladder. The Strangers' time is running out and John seems to be the key for their survival.
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I could spend 10 blog entries trying to explain all there is to Dark City's hour and a half, but it's best you just watch, a couple times perhaps, to take in all there is to offer. But in only one viewing it is easy to admire the look and acting in Dark City. Rufus Sewell (I don't know who he is either... but he does look like Joaquin Phoenix) is able to convey all of John's confusion and fear in his eyes as he tries to sort out the strange events that keep happening to him. And as he learns more and more, you can see him become a little more confident but still pretty uncertain about the world around him.
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And the look of Dark City is astonishing. While being a great looking sci-fi movie, it has film noir seeping all over it making it stand out as something unique. The alleys are dark, the shadows are long, and hats hide the eyes of every antagonist. Every character is literally a creature of the night. For being almost a decade old, the effects hold up nicely. The mind powers of the Strangers look great and the long shot that follows an incredible twist will knock you out. So Dark City is a sci fi/lm noir that is worth seeing on the look alone but has substance that will add so much more to the experience. A wonderful surprise for me.
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4 out of 5 stars
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(note: For DVD commentary junkies like me, Roger Ebert provides a very interesting one. Only after I saw the movie did I find out that Dark City is on Ebert's list of "The Great Movies.")