Dark City review

Megan and I got bored last week and decided to see what free movies were On Demand. When I saw the title Dark City, I remembered watching it years ago but couldn't remember what it was about. I remember thinking how cool the trailer was back then so we looked it up for it on YouTube and she agreed to watch it.

Wow! I can't believe how good this movie is! How had I forgotten all about it?! Let's go over the story synopsis:

Years ago aliens came to our planet (ie: The "Strangers" as shown above) They can alter reality with their minds, like changing the shape and structure of a city.  This dying race spent years of looking for a way to preserve their lives until they found earth.

Discovering humans have souls which that live forever, the Strangers seek out knowledge on how to obtain one themselves. To do that,  they place humans within a city, (controlled by the "Strangers") and document their behavior by altering human memories.

For instance, one night a human could be Mayor of the city and the next night, a janitor. The aliens then inject themselves with those memories to learn from them. 

With the aid of a traitorous  human doctor they conduct experiments using a syringe to the forehead which  creates new memories into the subject. And though the doctor hates the Strangers he figures it's the only way to preserve his life among the others.
 
I know this sounds deep but stay with me.

So one human wakes up before he can be "re-imaged" and discovers he has an uncanny physic ability to do things. (much like the aliens) The story focuses on our "hero" as he tries to discover, who he is, what's happening to him, when this all began, where the Strangers came from, why's the city always dark and how can he escape!?

Though the movie suffers from early CGI effects (it came out in 98) you can easily overlook it thanks to it's brilliant story!

Speculation on a few websites is that this movie prompted the idea for The Matrix which came out the following year. (remember Dark City originally had a 1997 release date) Being the same studio who produced it I'm inclined to believe this was the case. They knew they were on to something and if they had spent more money on Dark City I think it would have been huge!

Plus with the AMAZING twist at the end it's well worth you while to rent or watch. $8 for the Blu-ray or $6 on DVD at Amazon, make it an affordable purchase if you can't find it for free.

But trust me, watch it. It's good!