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Dark City
The preview for this movie made it look like it was self-indulgently philosophical, dumb and contrived. I mean, a 'dark', stylistic movie that really didn't have any substance to it but instead entertained itself with endless metaphors, allusions and surrealism (I'm looking at you, Eraserhead). And, I mean, I hate moves like that, but a few people on my flist mentioned Dark City, and I love Rufus Sewell, so this turned up at the top of my Netflix queue eventually.
And. Uh. I loved it.
I'd compare this movie to The Matrix, because it has a lot of the same tones in it - confusion, a large, unknowable opposing force, and a hapless main character who's the savior of everyone but doesn't know it yet. Only The Matrix had Keanu Reeves, and Dark City has Rufus Sewell, and where The Matrix is about the nature of reality and an elaborate metaphor for the savior of all, Dark City is about the human soul.
And the savior of everyone isn't some flash computer genius that has a mystical gift. Okay, so there's some mystical giftage involved, but how else do you defeat a cabal of psychically omnipotent aliens? I mean, really.
But seriously, Dark City is freaking awesome. It had me. It just had me. Here I was expecting the weirdness of this movie to be off-putting and disconcerting, and instead I sat down to watch the thing and realized that basically an hour just WHOOSHED past without so much as a by-your-leave. That never happens to me. It especially never happens in movies, as my attention span lasts just about 43 minutes (thank you, network television DVDs).
Okay, so the doctor guy's strangely Shatnerlike halting speech patterns got old fast. And it wasn't like any of the support actors (like the insane ex-detective) were actually any good. But I bought it. And once they revealed what the city really was, it made sense and wasn't too melodramatic or contrived.
Rufus certainly carried the role. He's not that awesome at actually flipping out, as an actor, but he can pull it off, and it felt like his character might actually be awkward. So it could be explained as something besides the actor showing through a little. And at moments he was just great. Like, I can't really describe why I like it so much, but I love the bit near the beginning where he can't get his wallet and he uses his power to break the glass. First use of his power, and the way he uses it - instinctively, without thinking, in a moment of panic - is great.
Overall, though, I really just surprisingly loved it. I haven't enjoyed watching a movie as much as I enjoyed that one in a serious while. They even tied the ending up just enough to satisfy, while not telling a second of the story more than they should have. Just. Man. I need to get a copy of this movie.
And. Uh. I loved it.
I'd compare this movie to The Matrix, because it has a lot of the same tones in it - confusion, a large, unknowable opposing force, and a hapless main character who's the savior of everyone but doesn't know it yet. Only The Matrix had Keanu Reeves, and Dark City has Rufus Sewell, and where The Matrix is about the nature of reality and an elaborate metaphor for the savior of all, Dark City is about the human soul.
And the savior of everyone isn't some flash computer genius that has a mystical gift. Okay, so there's some mystical giftage involved, but how else do you defeat a cabal of psychically omnipotent aliens? I mean, really.
But seriously, Dark City is freaking awesome. It had me. It just had me. Here I was expecting the weirdness of this movie to be off-putting and disconcerting, and instead I sat down to watch the thing and realized that basically an hour just WHOOSHED past without so much as a by-your-leave. That never happens to me. It especially never happens in movies, as my attention span lasts just about 43 minutes (thank you, network television DVDs).
Okay, so the doctor guy's strangely Shatnerlike halting speech patterns got old fast. And it wasn't like any of the support actors (like the insane ex-detective) were actually any good. But I bought it. And once they revealed what the city really was, it made sense and wasn't too melodramatic or contrived.
Rufus certainly carried the role. He's not that awesome at actually flipping out, as an actor, but he can pull it off, and it felt like his character might actually be awkward. So it could be explained as something besides the actor showing through a little. And at moments he was just great. Like, I can't really describe why I like it so much, but I love the bit near the beginning where he can't get his wallet and he uses his power to break the glass. First use of his power, and the way he uses it - instinctively, without thinking, in a moment of panic - is great.
Overall, though, I really just surprisingly loved it. I haven't enjoyed watching a movie as much as I enjoyed that one in a serious while. They even tied the ending up just enough to satisfy, while not telling a second of the story more than they should have. Just. Man. I need to get a copy of this movie.
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There are a lot of cheesy moments, but they're easily forgiven. And, like you said, some of the actors never quite lose that B-movie persona. But overall, the movie rocks.
Also, how cool is this? I bought a copy of it at Wal-Mart for $6.99. This was a couple years ago, mind you, but it was still a great deal.
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It is a little B movie. But when you watch real B movies for an academic class for a whole quarter, you tend to get desensitized.
Oh man! Yeah, that's a great deal. I'd love to own a copy of it.
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The Matrix parallels are intriguing. I guess there was something in the air a few years ago. Did you ever see 13th Floor? It came out in 99 and was advertised at the same time as the Matrix... and vanished without a peep when the Matrix blew up into a huge hit. I never saw it, but it seems to have been another is it real/is it VR story, a la the Star Trek holodeck. The tag line was: you can go there, even though it doesn't exist.