A man who awakens with fragmented memories of a life he can’t recall struggles to maneuver his way through a dangerous world run by mysterious forces that can alter realities at will. 

Written by Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David Goyer

Directed by Alex Proyas Stars: Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelley, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Richard O’Brien

Reminiscent of Tim Burton’s visual style for his original Batman movie, Dark City plunges the viewer into a deeply shadowed metropolis built upon a mechanized foundation, a place where truths are secreted behind locked doors, and danger is always just steps away.

The story follows the treacherous journey of John Murdoch (Sewell) as he struggles to piece together fragmented memories of his past to discover who he truly is.  Along darkened paths that weave throughout the city that never sees the light of day, John must determine who is friend and who is foe while he navigates a constantly changing landscape. 

Released one year prior to the blockbuster movie The Matrix, Dark City while not being nearly as well remembered shares some similarities with the first film of the widely popular franchise starring Keanu Reeves. While these similarities may not be intended, this viewer help but notice just a few:

The movies protagonists needs to either capture or eliminate the antagonist so as to obtain the heroes powers to continue their own existence outside of their manufactured realities.

Both antagonists have the ability to manipulate their realties, along with telekinetic powers that allow them to perform inhuman feats and oppose their powerful adversaries.

Both films are set within realities that allow the antagonists to manipulate both events and the inhabitants within.

Each of these stories antagonists don’t fully know their real identity at the start of the movies, and eventually find out that their purpose is to oppose a foe that consists of multiple threats that operate as one being.

Coincidence, not likely, but still to some degree hard to ignore. 

While the acting delivered by some of the cast feels a bit wooden, or vacant of the emotional responses one might expect from the situations these characters are faced with, the overall performance level is enough to carry the story through many of its quick cut scenes, and hastened encounters that push the story along.

As for the story, as a whole it moves at a decent pace without being hindered by unnecessary filler, however this doesn’t take away from a feeling that the plot and story could have been fleshed out a bit more.  The addition of some red herrings that leave the viewer guessing would have added some nice twists to keep the viewer guessing where the story is leading, instead of the obvious direction.  While Dark City may not have had as much commercial success as The Matrix, it’s still a film that can be viewed on occasion without losing the uniqueness it brings to the screen.