A sci-fi thriller that's occasionally brilliant in conception and visualization, but more often muddled in execution, "Dark City" focuses more attention on looking good than making any sense. Thus it should play well to male adolescents who are into dark, brooding comic books or who enjoyed movies such as "The Crow" in the past. Unlikely to appeal to mainstream moviegoers, though, the film will have a short run in the theaters. Much like other convoluted sci-fi stories that have come before it, however, this film might just gain a cult status simply due to its peculiar nature.
Based on a story by Alex Proyas, who also directed this and 1994's "The Crow," the film borrows its elements from many other sci-fi flicks, but the most notable is "Total Recall" (the big screen adaption of Philip K. Dick's short story, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale"). Much like that plot, the main character here -- and thus the audience as well -- is thrown into the story without any idea of what's really happening. It's an effective tool as it puts the audience on a level playing field with the main character and thus causes us to want to find out an answer just as badly as the lead does.
Unfortunately, our quest is interrupted and our attention is throttled as Proyas has shot the film in such a haphazard fashion, and editor Dov Hoenig ("Heat") has so abruptly given it the razor blade treatment, that it nearly becomes a case study of how not to shoot and/or edit a film. While it gives the production something of an MTV feel (something film makers now think is obligatory to hold the teens' interest level -- which is stupid -- just look at "Titanic"), it's so jumpy as to make one believe that a) the post-production efforts were rushed, and in the hurry they just did the best they could or b) there were no continuity shots and thus the awkward feel the film exudes at nearly every moment.
While the odd jump cuts and lack of congruity do keep the film almost always off balance -- and the audience physiologically attuned to what the main character is feeling -- I question whether that was intentional on Proyas' part, or just a byproduct of making this a feature length music video (sans the rock music, of course). Based on his previous work ("The Crow"), I'd have to say he was going more for visual style than visceral impact, but what the heck, it somewhat works regardless of whether he planned it.
In keeping with that "interesting" look, production designers George Liddle and Patrick Tatopolous have created some marvelous set designs. Featuring a mixture of elements from the Tim Burton inspired Batman set (and the many films and TV shows that followed it), "1984" and Fritz Lang's "Metropolis," the visuals are quite stunning. You're never quite sure in what era the film is set, or if it even takes place in the future. Nearly all of the production deals with the city always being dark and foreboding -- hence the "Dark City" -- and makes us wonder, along with Murdoch, as to whether the sun will ever come out. Even so, it's time production designers came up with something new since the dark, congested city scape look is starting to wear thin.
As far as the sci-fi elements go, the story is competent, but offers few surprises. There are some fun moments, however, such as when a lower income husband and wife are "brainwashed" into believing they're rich, and while this is happening, we see their little apartment of squalor transformed into an enormous mansion (their little eat-in table turns into an elongated dinner table) and they slip right into their adjusted, and now wealth-based, conversation.
What's most surprising is that for a story dealing with fabricated or erased memories, and a group of beings that can alter reality with the simplest of thoughts, that whole element comes up rather empty. Granted, the Strangers are an interesting bunch to watch. Ghostly pale, bald and walking around like their joints are soldered together, they look like a crossbreed of Pinhead (from those "Hellraiser" movies and minus the pins, of course) and the vampire title character from "Nosferatu." Yet, we've seen the collective "being" plot in other entries in this genre ("Star Trek's the Borg come to mind), so there's nothing particularly frightening, disturbing, or inventive about their presence.
While the story does slightly deal with the main character's memories coming back to him, that's what is really missing. Movies like this usually have those feint images of the past holding the key to unlocking the mystery, but this film's more concerned with the thought of memories being erased and/or passed around from lab rat to lab rat, then with what's inside those thoughts. The film makers have missed the potential of such elements that made parts of "Total Recall" so much fun. We want to see the "Is it real -- or just in my head" scenes that not only make the characters question what's happening, but also the audience as well. Unfortunately, these characters have been erased and recopied so many times they come off like a well-worn videotape -- they're fuzzy or dull -- and with little personality going for them, we don't really care about what happens.
The film also misses the boat by not exploiting the Strangers causing "visions" or "hallucinations" that then confuse Murdoch (like those fun scenes from 1970's "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" where similarly endowed beings tried to thwart James Franciscus and Kim Hunter's efforts by confronting them with telekinetically created fire and earthquakes). Here the beings threaten people -- Are you ready? Are you sitting down? Cuz it's really scary -- with knives. Is that the best these omnipotent beings (the writers) could come up with? Of course there is the climactic brain power battle (no, not the kind that involves Alex Trebek), but it's nothing more than a souped up special effects moment that's just a variation from the scene in "Scanners" (sorry, no bulging or exploding heads, however).
Rufus Sewell, who is so much better in the recent "Dangerous Beauty," isn't given much to do other than run around with his yes and mouth wide open. The fact that he doesn't know anything about his past prevents us from knowing the same, and the result again is that we can't fully empathize with his plight. We're more interested in trying to figure out what the heck is going on.
The rest of the performances are just as flat. Who knows why the brilliant William Hurt ("Broadcast News," "Altered States") got mixed up with this film. He tries his best to seem interested, but even he can't overcome the shallow characterizations and complete lack of any character development. Likewise, Connelly ("The Rocketeer," "Inventing The Abbotts") seems to be performing in a daze. While that's playing somewhat true to the character being erased so many times, it still prevents us from becoming involved. Kiefer Sutherland, on the other hand, seems to revel in doing his best impersonation of his father's now stereotypical bad guy and his signature vocal delivery.
Although the film's always interesting to watch, one can't get past the choppy direction, editing, and the lack of any real or at least interesting characters. While you'll initially wonder what in the world is going on, or will eventually happen, you'll tire of this muddled mess by the time the hokey telekinetic battle ensues. I'm sorry, they call that Tuning, and that's something this film -- like an old piano -- desperately needs. We give "Dark City" a 3 out of 10.
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