Dark City

viewed September 10, 1999 on laser disc

A movie that swings between being beautifully fresh and disappointingly derivative, but needs to be watched more than once to be adequately appreciated.  I'll watch it again eventually, but I'm more inclined to review The City of Lost Children, which this film resembles and owes a lot to.  There are a number of scenes that are exhilarating, such as the first sequence, which sets the action up briskly and casts a mood of paranoia amidst the collective gloom of the populace.  John Murdoch's flashback scenes are an effective use of computerized image distortion -- his final injection is a real rush.  From watching Rufus Sewell in GATTACA and here as Murdoch, I find him a highly watchable actor, who has eyes that convey  woundedness and intense energy.  Jennifer Connelly is less exciting, and Kiefer Sutherland is downright miscast as the doctor.  To my knowledge, it's the first movie to feature a chase scene among buildings that are moving.  Some interesting questions about the significance of memory in determining our identities and beliefs are raised along the way, which are worth taking from the film, and are much more interesting than the Godzilla Meets Mothra like mind-clash climax. 

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