1998 Ranked
Non-2019 First Time Watches Ranked
Directors Ranked: Alex Proyas

Film #53 of my 100 Degrees, 100 Movies Challenge

Common actor from previous film: Rufus Sewell

PREVIOUS FILM: Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
NEXT FILM: 30 Days Of Night

"When was the last time you remember doing something during the day?"

Dark City is a very original sci-fi film that has some great elements but is let down a little from very poor acting in places and a bit of a plodding pace.

I felt that apart from William Hurt and, to a lesser extent Jennifer Connelly, the acting in this ranges from over-acting (Kiefer Sutherland) to very inconsistent (Rufus Sewell) to just straight up awful (any of the antagonists.) I liked Sutherland's character overall but the way he delivered his lines was so annoying. He spoke. In broken. Sentences. All the. Time and. It was. Really hard. To not lose interest. Sewell is good in places but gets way too yelly in places as well. I get that this was meant to be a mystery-noir film and for the most part it is very intriguing but I couldn't help but be bored in places as well. The special effects are very dated. This doesn't ruin my enjoyment but it warrants mentioning.

I love the idea for this. It has obvious influences in older sci-fi films but it is still a unique idea. The Matrix has a lot of similarities to this as well although that goes towards the action route and this is a mystery/sci-fi/noir film. The acting from William Hurt was great and Jennifer Connelly was mostly good (although I don't think she can sing very well.) I liked the story arc overall and thought the explanation of why things happen was solid. I didn't notice any obvious plot-holes, which in films like this is quite rare.

If the acting was better then this could've been an instant sci-fi classic, instead I found it to be a good film, but not a great one.