Scooter Chronicles

On Father’s Day Marcia and I watched “Dark City” starring Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, Keifer Sutherland, William Hurt, and Richard O’Brien.

Thanks to Chris Makrozahopoulos and IMDB for the plot description:

John’s life has become a nightmare. He (Sewell) is hunted by the police (Hurt) for a series of murders he knows nothing about, a woman (Connelly) who claims to be his wife is after him, and so is a mysterious “doctor” (Sutherland). But his worst trouble is the Strangers, a series of vastly powerful beings who seem to manipulate just about everything in the city, and want him because of the extraordinary powers he manifested. John decides to find out what is happening in his city; why is it always night? And why can nobody tell him a way to leave the city?

I had never heard of this movie until I was searching Netflix for sci-fi and fantasy films. I listed them by rating, highest first. I had gotten over four stars (one of the highest ratings) and yet never heard of it. Figured it was time to see it then.

It was a bit confusing at first, but from what I read it was intended to be that way, making the watcher work at figuring things out, or giving the revelations by the characters more strength. As it was, Sutherland’s character does a monologue at the start of the movie which the studio requested against the director’s wishes giving us more information. Didn’t help me a whole lot.

In some respects it has a “Matrix” or “The Thirteenth Floor” feel to it. However, it was done before either of those films. It suffers more from cheesy-ness then those other two films, but I think more then makes up for it overall. It wasn’t big budget and let the story and how it was presented carry it, and that is what made it so good. I also think that it not being a cyberpunk basis like the other two movies made it more enjoyable for me. (I can only take so much of William Gibson type stories.)

I think all the actors were good. And I think that Hurt was especially good. I just didn’t see him in a role with a noir feel to it, but he pulled it off very well, almost like it was very natural for him. O’Brien was very creepy as Mr. Hand, one of the Strangers leading the chase to find John. He seemed perfect for the role.

For science fiction fans, this one is hard to miss. I am glad that I finally found out about it.