The Archive: Dark City (1998)

The Archive is going to be a regular feature here on Stacking The Deck, wherein I go through the numerous movies in my collection. These aren't new movies, so they're not listed under regular Reviews, but they're still all worth buying for a variety of different reasons. Some you may have heard of, some you may have not, but every movie I talk about in The Archive is worth buying, or at least watching repeatedly. 

Dark City is a loving, twisted homage to every noir trope in history, moody and bleak and oppressively creepy. Everything from the perpetual night to the ominous music, the familiar yet corrupt architecture, the tortured characters. Though not a horror movie, it certainly lays on the paranoia and the horrific imagery and concepts - hardly any gore, though, since as established, this is no low-brainpower slasher flick. You will need a brain to appreciate this movie, even though the opening narration holds massive spoilers thanks to some doofus at New Line; I strongly suggest you mute the narration or get the Director's Cut to fully appreciate the narrative that unfolds. I will avoid as many spoilers as possible in this review.

The cast is full of immensely talented people, characters that have arcs and attitudes more important than 'I'm an action hero'. Rufus Sewell, famous for a number of villain roles (including Prince Leopold in The Illusionist, which I will also be Archiving), plays John Murdoch, a man with only pieces of memory rattling in his brain. He may not be Superman, he's certainly not perfect, but he does not simply wait for things to happen to him. His insecurity - more like justifiable paranoia - does not cripple him on his fever pitch chase through the maze of city streets and Escher-esque buildings and away from The Strangers pursuing him. I find him fascinating because he's kind of a jackass to almost everyone, friend and foe alike - many times, his dismissal and abuse of others makes his search for the truth far more difficult than it needs to be. Given the circumstances of his 'birth' and the ridiculous stress he must be under, having a short temper is perfectly understandable.

Dark City is not what I would consider 'hard' sci-fi. It does not examine the possibility of a new yet plausible technology or science that alters the way society functions. It is more 'social science' fiction, in a way. The plot is concerned primarily with, and uses many motifs surrounding, psychology and sociology rather than the more typical physics, astronomy, or computer science. Murdoch's angst over his identity and his paranoia at the crushing, threatening world around him make for a fascinating character study. The supporting characters, even the villains, have their share of introspective moments, questions they need answered, choices they must make that lead to varying degrees of regret. This is not a 'fire and forget' movie, where the morality is clear and the outcome is 100% positive for the heroes and 0% positive for the villains.

You will not see a movie quite like Dark City elsewhere. Noir designs turned on their head, filtered through a complex narrative about the search for truth against impossible odds, stellar performances by all involved, all add up to a truly amazing experience.

WATCH IF YOU LIKE: The best damn sci-fi movie of all time

SKIP IF YOU DISLIKE: Amnesia plots, psychic powers

FINAL VERDICT: There's a reason I started this series with Dark City: it is easily my favorite movie ever, and even if you don't like the trappings, the construction alone warrants at least one viewing, more if you want to catch all the little hints and details that you inevitably miss the first time.

IMDB's entry on Dark City.