Subject: Review: Dark City (1998)

From: [email-masked] (Edward Johnson-ott)
Date: 6 Mar 1998 05:57:58 GMT

Dark City (1998)
Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, Richard O'Brien, Ian 
Richardson, William Hurt. Directed by Alex Proyas. 104 minutes.
Rated R, 3.5 stars (out of five stars)

Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly
www.nuvo-online.com/film/
Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Edward+Johnson-ott

What if you aren't who you think you are? What if your memories are 
manufactured? What if otherworldly beings slip into your mind while you 
sleep, changing your identity as casually as one changes TV stations? 
That's the premise of Alex Proyas' striking new sci-fi noir thriller. He 
calls it "Dark City." Mental health professionals might call it "Paranoia 
Helper." 

Using extremely quick edits, sensuous computer graphics, and a palette of 
blacks, browns and blues, with an occasional splash of red, Proyas ("The 
Crow") puts you smack in the middle of a nightmare from which you cannot 
awake. The story employs a fractured dream logic, although attentive 
viewers will have no problem following the narrative flow. 

You could spend hours listing all the film's reference points.  "Brazil," 
"Blade Runner," "Altered States," "Metropolis," "Twin Peaks," and "The 
Prisoner" spring to mind, but there are many other touch points. The 
bottom line, though, is that Proyas has crafted a vision distinctly his 
own. "Dark City" has an amazingly rich texture and an extraordinary sense 
of place. Even as the buildings themselves twist from one shape to 
another, you feel as if you could walk down their desolate halls. Despite 
periodic lapses into cheesiness, "Dark City" is memorable filmmaking, 
more an experience than simply a movie.  

It begins when John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) wakes up in the bathtub of a 
seedy hotel suite. There's a dead prostitute in the room, but he can't 
remember if he killed her. For that matter, he can't remember anything 
about his past. While desperately trying to collect himself, Murdoch 
receives a call from a Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland,) urging him to 
flee the room immediately. In short order, Murdoch learns that a lot of 
people are looking for him. Inspector Frank Bumstead (William Hurt) wants 
him in connection with a string of vicious murders. His wife Emma 
(Jennifer Connelly) wants to make amends for cheating on him. And the 
Strangers want him very badly. Bedecked in long overcoats as they 
silently fly through the night skies, the pallid bald pursuers look like 
the hellish spawn of Uncle Fester and Pinhead, filtered through a 
Magritte painting.

So who are the Strangers and what are they up to? It would be best to 
find out during the course of the story, but since Proyas spills the 
beans in an unnecessary voice-over at the beginning of the film, I'll 
recount them here. The Strangers are the last of an alien race, 
conducting experiments on humanity from their headquarters deep beneath 
the city. Possessed of a power called "tuning," they can stop time, make 
people fall asleep with the wave of a hand, and reshape physical reality 
through concentration alone. At the stroke of twelve every night (and 
it's always night,) they implant memories and identities in various 
citizens, then carefully watch the results.

But sometimes the implants don't go quite right, as evidenced by Murdoch. 
Further complicating the Strangers’ agenda is the fact that Murdoch is 
also able to tune. Gradually, Murdoch changes from panicked victim to 
avenging warrior as he pursues vague memories of an idyllic place called 
Shell Beach, all while honing his newfound powers. Clearly it's just a 
matter of time before he confronts the aliens and dares them to "Go ahead,
 make my night."

Rufus Sewell handles Murdoch well, investing the character with just the 
right amounts of urgency and strength. Hurt and Connelly turn in sturdy 
enough performances, given the befuddled nature required of their 
characters. Richard O’Brien, who created "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" 
and played Riff-Raff, gives a stylish turn as Mr. Hand, lead hatchet man 
for the Strangers.

The oddest performance comes from Kiefer Sutherland, affecting a bizarre, 
quasi-Peter Lorre impression as Dr. Schreber. Sutherland says two...or 
three...words then he...pauses and...breathes then he...continues 
speaking. The halting, breathy speech style is just as annoying onscreen 
as it was in that sentence.

Performances and plot aside, "Dark City" is a feast for the eyes. The 
city has the worn look of New York in the 40s or 50s, with retro 
funkiness and art deco flourishes everywhere. Computer animated shots of 
the buildings morphing from one shape to another are dazzling, as are the 
scenes of the Strangers gliding through the air. The effects are 
occassionally cheesy, particularly when Murdoch has a literal battle of 
wills with head Stranger Mr. Book (Ian Richardson,) but with a vision as 
expansive as Proyas', the flubs are easy to overlook.

With it's roots firmly in the "Heavy Metal" school of adolescent 
trippiness, "Dark City" makes no groundbreaking statements, but that's 
fine. Proyas has taken a clever idea, added some phenomenal imagery and 
created one whale of an apocalyptic dreamscape. During a season where 
most movies look like photocopies of each other, "Dark City" is a most 
welcome diversion. 

Copyright 1998, Ed Johnson-Ott