Dark City Review

Hype:  Dark City is once again another movie I have no idea what the plot is about.  It's a movie I've heard the name of, but don't know what it is about.  I recently went out and picked up the director's cut of the film.  A lot of the websites I visit on a daily basis gave rave reviews about this film and from what I can tell has a huge cult following.  Dark City is one of those movies that didn't do amazingly well at the box office, but once was released on DVD, blew up and started gaining lots of attention.

Initial Review:  Dark City is a science fiction movie about a man named John Murdoch, played by Rufus Sewell, who is accused of a series of murders that he has no recollection of committing.  The police inspector Frank Bumstead, played by William Hurt, is looking to arrest John.  At the same time this group of men called The Strangers are also looking for John.  The Strangers live below the city and have the ability to cause all the citizens to fall asleep at midnight.  It turns out the John is "immune" to The Strangers powers which is why they must find him.

There is a lot going on in this movie.  At first you aren't really sure what the deal is with The Strangers.  They are just a group of pale bald guys that for some reason have this machine that causes people to sleep at a certain time.  For most of the film you aren't really sure why The Strangers want to put everyone to sleep.  And then you have John that apparently has this power called tuning which allows him use his mind to control things, like knocking people over and creating doors.  Dark City is one of those movies where a bunch of stuff happens and doesn't really make sense until the end.

After one viewing I would have to say Dark City is an okay film.  I thought the story was completely original and the set design was amazing.  The acting wasn't bad.  The more movies I see William Hurt in the more I like him.  Kiefer Sutherland, who plays Dr. Daniel Schreber, was alright, but I prefer him as Jack Bauer on 24.  I feel like this movie is one that requires multiple viewings and it's one that I feel like I could watch multiple times.  Dark City is not for everyone.  If you aren't a fan of sci-fi films it would probably be best if you stayed away.  But if you enjoy sci-fi films that are different and enjoyable to watch then Dark City is well worth seeing.