Dark City
John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a scuzzy bathtub in a hotel room he
has never been in before. Confused by his surroundings, John reaches for
some kind of balance. Within moments, a phone call is placed to his room by
an unknown man warning him to escape. Some men are after him right now as
they speak. John also discovers that he has a wife named Emma (Jennifer
Connelly) who he has not seen in 3 weeks.
Lurid beings called "The Strangers" -- an alien race on the verge of
existence -- are doing experiments with human minds to see what makes
humans unique and how they would be able to survive in our world. "The
Strangers" have secretly inhabited themselves into the lives of the city's
residences and have put them under a "sleep spell." During this sleep
period, they are able to take the "real memories" of a person and switch
them with other people's memories, whereby completely erasing any trace of
who they really are.
"The Strangers" also have the power to make time stop and alter reality
with a psychic ability called "Tuning." Their only way of understanding
the complexity of the human mind is with the help of scientist, Dr. Daniel
P. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland), whose performance is one for the books. He
has turned himself into a weird, freakishly funny and demented character
who applauds his own genius capabilities, but has a weak spot about it,
too. It's as if he regrets what he's doing, but at the same time can't
help craving more of his extreme gift. His character willingly gives up
his "real memories" to help The Strangers with their testing, in return for
keeping his brilliant mind as the only true part of his identity.
Dr. Daniel soon realizes that John possesses the ability of Tuning and is
key in stopping The Strangers, but John has to find out how to get this
special power under control and use it for destroying The Strangers before
they find out and erase his memories or worse... his life! John is
eventually befriended by inspector Frank Brumstead (William Hurt) as they
try to find a way to defeat The Strangers and return life to normal. I
especially enjoyed Rufus Sewell's performance. He's a very animated
presence to watch and listen to with his smooth, deep-sounding, gorgeous
voice. The character he played was very driven, strong, and full of
compassion. A man of determination; a protector and fighter for what he
believes in.
"The Strangers" are teeth chattering freaks who are just nasty, brutal,
evil-voiced creatures played excellently by the actors, especially by the
character of Mr. Hand (Richard O'Brien). Director Alex Proyas (The Crow)
has created a highly charged eye-popping work of visual astonishment. The
movie is dismal and draining, caved in darkness and electrical light. The
mood of the city is sunken in misery and depleted of natural energy.
Grimy, cold-looking and warped. A horrible life where darkness is what
you'll see and feel forever.
Written by: Lynda Dale MacLean
Reviewers Rating: 8.5
Reader's Rating: 8.38
Reader's Votes: 22
Added: 1-Nov-2002
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