Saturday 26 March 2011

Hidden sci-fi gem better than 'The Matrix'?

For those of you who have seen The Matrix: Reloaded and The Matrix: Revolutions, the local Health Authority has asked me to inform you that you must administer an important health self-test. Ready? Okay: close your eyes, and gently shake your head from side to side. Do you hear an annoying, echoing clatter in your skull, like dirty cutlery in a kitchen sink? Sadly, you’re suffering from KeanuSpeechitis, caused by the careless use of tedious, brain-numbing dialogue in the two sequels to the 1999 blockbuster sci-fi movie The Matrix. Don’t worry - those huge, indigestible words jangling around in your cerebellum will go away. Just take two Adam Sandler movies and call me in the morning.

Don’t get me wrong – the two Matrix sequels are chock full of great eye-candy, but they certainly didn’t live up to the promise of the original film, which is a genuinely unique movie joyride that delivers a tremendous “Did you see that?!” experience. But, maybe “unique” is the wrong word. Let’s go into the vault and dust off Dark City.

Watching this exceptional sci-fi thriller, you’d might think it ripped off several themes and ideas from The Matrix… except that Dark City was released in 1998, a full year before Neo and company ever went kung-fu fighting. Rufus Sewell (A Knight’s Tale) stars as John Murdock who awakens in a bathtub in a strange hotel room with a fragmented memory. The phone rings and a breathless man, Dr. Shreber (Kiefer Sutherland), warns him to run, and quickly, because the dark men are coming for him. Bewildered and afraid, he does, just as three ominous Strangers close in on him. Murdoch stumbles into the streets of the city, a place where it is always night, where darkened railcars rumble by on elevated tracks above shadowy slums, and where he assembles the pieces of a life the Strangers have designed and built for him. He discovers he has a wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly), and that he’s wanted for multiple murders. Is he guilty? He can’t remember. While trying to find out, Murdoch gradually discovers the nature of the Strangers and the city they’ve built in which to perform their mysterious experiments on its human population. He also discovers that he might have the same special abilities the Strangers have – can he set everyone free? Is he… the One?

Dark City is visually spectacular, imaginatively and intelligently written, uses jaw-dropping effects that are an integral part of the story, and it’s a thrill to watch. It’s a great blend of lost romance, intriguing mystery, and exhilarating action scenes. The writer/director, Alex Proyas, is an Aussie with a penchant for ambitious sci-fi productions, as is seen in his earlier movie The Crow and the Will Smith film I, Robot. Dark City is by far the best of the bunch.

Despite being one of the best science fiction movies of the 1990s, Dark City bombed at the box office and was shuffled onto the dusty shelves of video stores because the studio didn’t know how to market it. Check out what moviegoers missed in 1998. The whole movie buzzes with a level of energy that is completely absent from large sections of The Matrix: Reloaded. Besides which, Dark City actually features actors who can, you know, act, unlike Keanu Reeves, whose thespian ability could be compared to a 10-foot length of construction-grade 2X4. Except that, well, it’s not nice to insult defenseless lumber.

My advice: wait ‘till dark, turn out the lights, watch Dark City, and you’ll give a pleased, Keanu-sized “Whoa!”, guaranteed.

9 comments:

  1. Hahaha, I most definitely have suffered greatly from being forced through hearing that dull voice. However, I now must watch this one. You talked it up quite nicely.

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  2. I agree Dark City was a great movie not many people know about!

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  3. damn i gotta get this movie now lol

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  4. I dont think this movie beats Matrix! Matrix is my favorite all time movie, im sure gonna watch this one

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  5. The Matrix is awesome but if this one was made before it and the Matrix stole a bunch from it, that's not cool.

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  6. I remember seeing this about a year ago, keifer sutherlands role is quite strange a bit like that movie freeway. I don't want to give anything away to those that havn't seen this but the bit with the water is incredible.

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  7. the matrix definately stole from this movie! it's a good movie, but I like the matrix better though ;)

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  8. Good flick. My wife recommended this one.

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