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| DIRECTED BY |
| Alex Proyas
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| STARRING |
| Rufus Sewell |
| William Hurt |
| Kiefer Sutherland |
| Jennifer Connelly |
| Richard O'Brien |
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Warning: Minor Spoilers
Although it tries to make itself a little too complex through scattered symbolism and some unnecessarily metaphorical dialogue, �Dark City� never gets out of hand with the highfalutin, heavy-handed pseudo-philosophies of many other modern-day big budgeted science fiction extravaganzas such as �The Matrix.� �Dark City� doesn�t really appear to be amounting to any sort of grand theme but it ultimately keeps its aim simple enough � despite a deceptively complex storyline � to remind us of how truly valuable and unjustly overlooked our mere individuality is, as well as pleasantly riffing (if also dumbing down) Dali�s idea of �the persistence of memory.�
Proyas�s fusion of both film noir and sci-fi at their darkest turns into an absolute marvel to behold, with quickly sweeping cinematography framing one elaborate landscape after another. The action sequences are terse and thrillingly creative, particularly the initial confrontation between John and the Strangers involving a billboard with a swinging appendage. Special effects sequences showing us rooftops and skyscrapers transforming into different shapes and sizes are nothing short of mind-blowing. With the presence of William Hurt, this appears to be the film that Wim Wenders was attempting with �Until the End of the World� but � unfortunately � lost sight of what exactly he was trying to accomplish with it, resulting in a rather large filmic mess.
�Dark City� isn�t without its fair share of problems, however. The film is actually paced a little too quickly for its own good � Proyas�s major focus was intelligent entertainment, and I respect that, but some character motivations and certain events remain a little too obscure. For instance, Bumstead appears to let himself become endeared to John a little too quickly after tracking him down for so long. And how did John suddenly end up in that jail cell? I probably missed some quick occurrence but this still shouldn�t have happened, for I was watching intently. And why would John only have happy memories? Trevor Jones�s score is initially exciting but ultimately gets too overblown and repetitive for its own good. The plot also relies upon convenient coincidences (John�s meeting with his uncle) and - as aforementioned - the symbolism (such as the �tied shoelaces� dialogue) seems largely unnecessary because it only takes away from the authenticity of the story and trivially mystifies its characters.
When broken down, the story is actually quite standard � an otherwise-moralistic man turns to murder after realizing his wife�s adultery and a stubborn detective attempts to track him down. But Proyas makes all of this seem fresh by instilling the plot with imaginative sci-fi and suspending our disbelief in a plausible way � we�re only provided with clear-cut answers gradually, after we�ve become exhausted with the guessing game.
