Dark City

Comment:
We have had various movies, in the past, that featured a good atmosphere, sometimes they also had a story to give some substance to it (eg. Blade Runner), sometimes they were just examples of visual style (eg. Tim Burton's Batman). I'm glad to note that Dark City belongs to the former category, thanks to an incredible visual atmosphere and a catching and intelligent story that never let you down.

Dark City is a rather bizarre place to live in. Although its inhabitants don't realize it, the city 'changes' every night, small houses turn into big flats, people keeps changing their social roles and their lives, there is no way to leave the city and the sky is always dark. However, John Murdoch is different, he understands there is something wrong and tries to search for the truth while a group of peculiarly dressed individuals known as 'The Strangers' fights him with their supernatural powers.

The weird setting and the mysterious story are catching since the beginning of the movie and they immediately fascinated me. Every detail have been accurately thought and then introduced in the environment, in the narration, in the story, in the characters' personality, so nothing seems to be out of place or chosen at random. I wouldn't say that the characters are particularly charming because most of my interest has been focused on the story and on the setting but the acting is more than appropriate.

There are many good ideas in this movie, including the concept of 'tuning' (ie. the ability to manipulate reality), the unreachable places, the humans' limited comprehension of the world they lived in, the fear of the uncertainty, the loss of control and individuality. If you are ready to take it seriously you can find these and other 'philosophical hints', otherwise you can just enjoy the interesting science-fiction story mixed with an absorbing noir thriller but you'll lose a lot of inner meanings and you'll basically miss the whole point of the movie.

The finale could have been better, I expected something quite different. During the whole movie I thought that The Strangers' only problem was the lack of creativity (hence the boring names, their continuous re-elaboration but no new inventions, the 'tuning', etc.) but this was not explicitly explained. Anyway, apart from the 'final fight' that could have been completely avoided or at least introduced in a more subtle and maybe indirect way, overall the movie is next to perfect and provides the audience with a unique and satisfying experience.