FauxNixon

It seems kind of funny to me to think that having written quite a few reviews many of my favorite movies aren’t yet among them. Such is the case with Alex Proyas’ 1998 neo-noir Dark City starring Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, Kiefer Sutherland, and William Hurt in a world of perpetual darkness in an unnamed city. The city is timeless in setting and design; it features things that could make it contemporary or of pretty much any time period since the 1900s. This is purposeful and pretty indicative of the compulsion Alex Proyas seems to have with the details of his films.

John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakes in a bathtub with absolutely no memory of his life, where he is, or why. He is apparently guilty of being a murderer and is pursued by the police in the form of Inspector Frank Bumstead (William Hurt) and his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly). He makes his way around the city, confused and pursued constantly. He begins to wonder why he has no memory of anything other than the city; why he can’t ever recall the last time it was not dark outside; why he seems to have the power to break things with his thoughts and other things. He begins to discover that strange creatures called The Strangers control this world, altering its inhabitants, their settings, and their memories in order to experiment and find a way to not die out.

The plot is aided by the traitor serving The Strangers, Dr. Daniel Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland), who seeks redemption for his transgressions and does so by way of aiding John, Inspector Bumstead, and Emma in their search for the truth about what’s going on, who they really are, and what is really in control of them.

The actors mentioned play their parts quite well and with an interesting flair that’s not often seen. Rufus Sewell, for example, shoulders the burden of a leading role not just with adequate skill, but with such a convincing portrayal that he legitimately seems to be John Murdoch. William Hurt plays the inspector role in a classic detective style reminiscient of film-noir, Jennifer Connelly seems absolutely perfect for her role as a lounge singer, and Kiefer Sutherland plays a masterful Sci-Fi Judas complete with his own details like a difficulty with breathing that leaves him speaking in a halting manner that adds to his portrayal of an outcast.

Many of the sets and designs will be familiar to viewers of the following year’s release of The Matrix and for quite good reason: many of Dark City’s prop settings and pieces of scenery were utilized by the Wachowski Brothers when they needed to make another movie with a slightly similar plot and scenes with a very similar feel.

Indeed, the comparisons to The Matrix are really unavoidable. John awakens in a bath with no memory, as if reborn and emerges from his room, 614, an allusion to the Biblical verse John 6:14. He is ultimately the savior of his kind with his special gifts and only discovers all of these things as the plot unfolds. Neo’s (Keanu Reeves) Biblical allusions are for another time, but if you haven’t at least noticed more than handful of them, you may need to re-watch that film.

Also as in The Matrix the special effects are profound and innovative. Despite having somewhere around half the budget of The Matrix, Dark City manages to present effects which are not only very impressive, but which at the time in no way detract from the movie or are distracting in anyway. Actually, the effects are so well-done that they help the movie enormously and reduce some of the burden of the suspension of disbelief that’s needed by viewers of movies.

I could go on and on about this movie, as I could with most of those that I think are truly exceptional, but I’ve covered this enough and if you don’t already know enough, you should either see Dark City, visit the Internet Movie Database and get more information, or if you’re like me, probably do both in that order.