Dark City

Alex Proyas revels in the dark. He literally loves it. And he wants the viewer to love it too. This is not only the case with Dark City, but also with his other films. If there's a dawn breaking, it's more metaphorically, through enlightenment, change. This precursor to The Matrix offers another answer to what visions are presented to us and what a person can achieve. (2015-10-13)

From the first to the last minute, the extremely paranoid script by Alex Proyas and David S. Goyer, who clearly revels in his own convoluted plot, is just the foundation of the overall quality of the film. Proyas's penchant for dark and grungy corners of urban districts was once again put to good use in creating a desolate atmosphere that weighs on the viewer like a heavy blanket. It’s a visually refined "plaything," abundant with a flood of fantastic yet not gratuitous special effects, supported by the excellent camera work of Darius Wolski, and an unsettling yet captivating soundtrack by Trevor Jones. All in all, it is pleasing not only to the eye but also the brain, which is not allowed to rest for even a moment. Add to that a great cast, led by the strange Doctor Kiefer Sutherland, followed by William Hurt and Rufus Sewell. With all these elements combined, this film is definitely something that will linger in one's mind for quite some time. (2005-11-06)

And they say lightning doesn’t strike twice. If Proyas's The Crow was dark, depressing, interestingly stylized, and narratively "unusual", all this is doubly true for Dark City, a very bleak and unpleasant vision of a world dominated by bald aliens who are allergic to light, can bend physics to their advantage and have a motive that, even after much thought, doesn't seem illogical or nonsensical. Of course, we've seen the single hero destined to carry out a revolution and defeat an invincible foe a few times before, but when everything around is so tastefully polished, thoughtful and novel, a little cliché can never hurt. And Jones’s soundtrack is perfect for the genre :)) 85% (2013-12-25)

If the Dark City was not consciously pointing out the proper noir atmosphere right from the beginning, I would almost say that the main character could have found the way to the beach on the Internet. While for us, travelling anywhere is nowadays a simple process, when with two clicks we can see not just the journey from the map’s position, but also the journey from the car driver’s position, in this film it formed the basis of the story. The film changed from noir crime film into a complete sci-fi in a split second. I thought that it is nice that in the nineties the American directors had balls to shoot similar movies. Nowadays, nobody would pay for it unless it had the stamp of Marvel or a remake. (2016-04-04)

Wow, that was a ride! Mix together Metropolis, P.K. Dick, Burton, Gilliam, the Coens, and maybe even The Matrix, add to that Proyas' ornate direction and Proyas' very, very bizarre script... And you get Dark City. It's a juicy treat for genre lovers, which I would probably recommend to Franz Kafka if he ever wants to come back from the grave to watch a movie. (2010-07-24)