DARK CITY

From the creator of the occult thriller THE CROW, comes DARK CITY, another dark, gothic, science-fiction movie that raises philosophical questions. Reminiscent of METROPOLIS, BLADE RUNNER and even HELLRAISER, this movie contains lavish set design, many special effects and an intelligent script, but may only appeal to genre fans, unlike the huge crossover success of the STAR WARS series.

The story begins with a young John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) awakening in a strange hotel room to find out that he is being pursued for a series of brutal prostitute murders. John cannot remember if he committed these murders, let alone remember his name or past. John is pursued on the streets of a dark urban city by Detective Bumstead (William Hurt). John is also pursued by a trio of bald fiends known collectively as The Strangers. The audience comes to understand that The Strangers are a dying breed of people from outer-space who have a mechanical underworld and can stop time and alter physical reality through a process known as Tuning. By focusing their minds, they can change the cityscapes.

Every night at midnight, The Strangers stop time. All movement stops and people seem to fall asleep. The Strangers walk about the city and pick different people to study by injecting them with a mind altering-drug developed by a crazed human, Dr. Schreber (Keiffer Sutherland). Dr. Schreber makes new memories for the humans in liquid form in exchange for being allowed by The Strangers to keep his own memories. The people in the dark city don’t quite remember how to leave the city, nor do they remember seeing the daylight. Furthermore, during the Tuning, The Strangers change the shape of the buildings (an opportunity for the filmmakers to display their special effects.)

Somehow through a genetic anomaly, John is able to resist going to sleep at midnight. He sees `angers do their work, and because of that, he must be stopped. His estranged wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly), a lounge singer, also pursues John. However, he discovers that she may simply be a figment of his conditioned imagination. The Strangers may have conditioned him to think that she is actually his wife. The film heads toward a climax when John demands that Dr. Schreber take him to the edge of the city, toward the land of John’s childhood, Shell Beach. At the city’s edge, John makes a startling and horrifying discovery, demonstrating the true reality and position of the dark city.

Fans of such dark fare as BLADE RUNNER and BRAZIL may fancy this dark tale. Not entirely an action-adventure movie with a science-fiction premise, such as INDEPENDENCE DAY or MEN IN BLACK, it is more like STAR TREK in that it poses many questions on the nature of reality and man’s place in the universe. Without stating that man is a created being by God, the movie does state that man has a soul, and one man, Detective Bumstead, says that he is paying for his sins. The movie also concludes that human love between man and woman cannot be manufactured in a solution and that the essence of man cannot be found in the head, but in the heart.

With such low-level platitudes, the movie actually aspires to be more thought-provoking than it turns out to be. The director ably keeps the audience in suspense by gradually releasing information about John, The Strangers and their relationship, but the ending seems to suggest that John can create meaning for himself, even if it is a false reality.

Without a winsome ensemble cast to balance out the darkness and confusion of other peoples with sinister plans, DARK CITY maintains a certain detached emotionality that will not be appreciated by many. Though the special effects and world of DARK CITY are believable, it may take more than an intriguing premise to convince the average viewer to enter these streets.