Best movie of this year hands down!

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Blistering performances.

The nineties were a veritable treasure trove of horror-tinged, philosophical sci-fi dystopias that simply couldn't say no to the allure of high octane action-thrillers. It's like Kierkegaard joined the X-games, and John Woo is the directing the whole thing. It's like a hefty chunk of existential angst crept into the creative marrow of an entire decade. Something of an underground hit, Dark City remains of the more stalwart examples of imaginative sci-fi film-making during the Clinton years. Having finished the more Gothic intoned The Crow, director Alex Proyas decided that his next project would give tribute to noir films, as well as some of the heady concepts found in the books of Phillip K. Dick (Would you call them Dick-y concepts? Dickensian is out of the question, right? Kaydick ? ). That next project would be Dark City, a brooding but inspired science fiction and noir film mash-up that prods questions about the nature of memory and identity, and how the two correlate.Inside a hotel room in a Fritz Lang inspired cityscape, a man (Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a hotel room. He finds himself sitting in a bath tub with no recollection of his past life. A corpse of a butchered woman lies next to him, and the woman has bizarre spiral incisions on her skin. A well timed phone call by a doctor Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) informs him that he is in danger, and must flee the scene. As he does this, a group of leather-clad Pinhead rejects enter the hotel searching for him. These outré G-men seem hell-bent on finding him at any cost. And there is something undeniably eerie about their shaved heads and weird cadences, kind of like if Jean Luc Picard took Mescaline. Thus a game of cat and mouse begins where our hero, a man we would later learn is called Murdoch, begins running fleeing through the city trying to give his pursuers the slip. Along the way, he begins noticing certain irregularities about it – first, there is a worrying lack of sunshine anywhere in the city. People don't sleep, but instead get frozen in time and have their heads drilled in by the Pinhead guys. And he himself begins exhibiting telekinetic powers. The leather gang known as the Strangers, influence all things in the City by way of manipulating the citizen's memories by implanting new ones into their minds every night. This serves as a terrifying massive-scale experiment with the intention of finding what exactly the human soul is. Besides Murdoch, another group of people is trying to decipher certain irregularities about the world they inhabit as well. Police inspector Bumstead (William Hurt) is also interested in apprehending Murdoch, as he believes he committed a string of murders around town. He starts noticing his own inability to remember his past, and slowly gets dragged into a much larger story as well. Murdoch's ex- wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly) is searching for Murdoch as well, as she becomes embroidered in the mystery alongside Bumstead. With all of the pieces in play, the movie is free to create a dramatic tapestry woven from the perspectives of the principal characters. Their own stories add layers to the central narrative, and the mystery of the City. And while individually, these vignettes might seem disconnected, even random, they actually add up in the end, and actually make this chaotic screenplay feel approachable. From the very first scene, the movie establishes that it has a lot to say, and a certain dramatic messiness is present. It never truly goes away, as characters get introduced incredibly rapidly, only to get shafted a scene or two later.. In essence, the movie is a think- piece about how the concept of self gets thrown around and molded by various agents. When stripped to its bare essentials, what is the sole indivisible trait a person can have? That, and how to make mind-powered kung-fu not look hokey. The answers to these questions might not always be the most satisfying, but they are asked with style and an unbroken focus. But if Dark City excels at one thing, it is its visual identity. Recalling German Expressionism and pulp noir, every detail invests you in this mondo-bizarre world. Thick shadows envelop rooms, moody lighting and a black-amber-green color scheme instill a sixties-retro meets the end of the world vibe. Sharply dressed men and women litter the scenes, their faces creasing with existential dread. The actors moving through the sets make them look like parts of an overly edgy Edward Hopper painting. Out of the actors, leading man Rufus Sewell is played as an observer, a man of questions before action. Given the themes the movie deals with, he is an apt protagonist for this story. His blank slate-like state allows him to re-do the wrongs from his previous lives. The emotional crux of the movie consists of him reuniting with his estranged wife. This often too think-y movie can feel dispassionate, so a little emotional investment goes a long way. Add in a refreshingly optimistic ending, and this Dark City might not be as bleak as one would thing. William Hurt is an amazing actor, and besides delivering a few razor-sharp sidelong glances, he doesn't get a lot to work with in this movie. A lot of time is spent with his character, but it ends up feeling like exposition, rather than character progression. Jennifer Connelly is jaw- droppingly gorgeous, a femme fatale whose ice-cold heart slowly begins to thaw as the prospect of redeeming herself becomes possible. Not one of her strongest roles, but still a standout in a film chock-full of nervous weirdos.Director Alex Proyas always seems on the verge of greatness. Yet, there is always some niggling detail that prevents his work from attaining classic status. But among his movies Dark City stands as his finest work to date, and is one of the more satisfying products of this era of film-making.

Dark City is definitely a one of a kind movie. There's no other in the science fiction genre that's similar to it. It stands alone. Most of the time I really enjoy films that are unique and stand out, and this one fits into that most category. Typically I'm not huge on the science fiction genre, but I think even if you don't usually care for that type of film, you'll still like this one. One of the reasons it can transcend a strict science fiction audience is because of its intelligence. The film doesn't reveal a whole lot until the very end, which is very clever, keeps the viewer guessing the whole way through. The cast is very good. I think each and every cast member was picked well and represents their role well. The plot is a lot to explain, and the movie gets more complicated as it goes along, so I'll just say that the plot is full of rich twists and turns. I can almost 100% guarantee that you will not be bored with this film, too much is going on for that to happen. The special effects were good for 1998, they are kind of dated by today's standards, but they still work, the buildings in the city are probably the most interesting thing as far as visual effects go. Overall, I do recommend this very interesting film. 8/10.

Set in a bleak dystopian world, Dark City, directed by Alex Poryas of 'The Crow', is a mind-bending science-fiction vehicle that aims to challenge audiences at a psychological level while pushing the boundaries of cerebral ideas. It is a film aiming to grip moviegoers with an arresting visual style while capitalizing on a chock full of concepts that feel fresh. Tautly paced and piercing with a complex narrative, Dark City never holds back when splashing viewers with cutting-edge of surprises and unpredictable twists. The central figure of this compelling tale is an amnesiac man fighting for the truth in a world where nothing is what he appears and reality is distorted to alarming proportions. And it is the mind-bending plot that is the driving force of this twisted tale. Alex Poryas handles the story immense precision without resorting to overly familiar elements. It is more than safe to say that his effort prevail. In deeper words, his efforts amount to something that feels groundbreaking. This film is set in a world where the sun never rises and the cities are blanketed with everlasting nightfall. John Murdoch (played by Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a bathtub with no memory of his past or Emma (played by Jennifer Connolly), a woman who claims to be his wife. When Murdoch is alerted by Dr. Daniel Schreiber (played by Kiefer Sutherland) of Detective Frank Bumstead (played by William Hurt) who is hunting down for a series of grisly murders he has no memory of committing. Murdoch must evade Bumstead and uncover the truth of his past while running evading a league of alien-like humans known as The Strangers who each have dubious tricks under their sleeves.Is this guy a murderer? Is he innocent? Is there a corrupt side of the law enforcement officer? Each questions lies in the heat battle between the lead character and the enigmatic truth that hidden by an enemy beyond his imagination. Director Alex Poryas drives the story with a plot where the some of the most shocking surprises are not what we know but what we don't know. One thing that Poryas accomplishes here is keeping things unpredictable from beginning to end. In the process, the film holds no barrs when challenging viewers' expectations and placing the characters in a ramshackle of shocking twists and grim conspiracies. While Poryas leaves room for a few action set pieces, he keeps it suppressed for the most of the second half before delivering a visually stunning climatic battle during the final twenty minutes. As for the visual department, Poryas proves himself highly a dazzling production design of a dystopian society plunged into darkness, owing elements to Terry Gilliam's 'Brazil' with a slice of 'Blade Runner'. Rufus Sewell's John Murdoch makes for an appealing protagonist, the character that manages to stand out considerably among the supporting cast of underdeveloped characters. Although Sewell's performance occasionally fluctuates between strong and clunky, he mostly gets the job done. Jennifer Connolly plays Emma with great humility and fortitude, and his romance with John is fine, but never quite sizzles. William Hurt embraces his character with humanity without straying into the portrayal of over-the-topness. But he is certainly not a villain that hits a home-run. Kiefer Sutherland gets his time to shine, but the lack of depth in this character limit his ability to fully blossom his talent in the role. It appears that John Murdoch is the only firmly developed character in the pack which makes him unsurprisingly easy to root for. Dark City is a thoroughly mind-bending science-fiction trek, shining with chord-striking visual compulsion and a story that is enormously engaging, if slightly flawed in its roots. The movie will more than likely not appeal to individuals alienated by a dark atmosphere, hence the title, or intellectually challenging narrative. But for others, it is a chord-striking experience and a sucker punch achievement in its genre.

what if one can simply free himself from his past and his own memories, what if you can conquer the power of time that contain everything within its existence, and what if you uncovered the truth behind the humans identity away from the imprinted destiny that fate draw for them..this movie has discussed all those ideas and moreafter he found out about his wife affair John Murdoch has to experimented the truth about not only his feeling for her but the truth about the struggle of all mankind against the power of their destiny and how he would behave and react to what happen through his quest will open the door for his freedom as a human and give him the ability to control the universe and reshaped his life and everything else