Dark City

And they say lightning doesn’t strike twice. If Proyas's The Crow was dark, depressing, interestingly stylized, and narratively "unusual", all this is doubly true for Dark City, a very bleak and unpleasant vision of a world dominated by bald aliens who are allergic to light, can bend physics to their advantage and have a motive that, even after much thought, doesn't seem illogical or nonsensical. Of course, we've seen the single hero destined to carry out a revolution and defeat an invincible foe a few times before, but when everything around is so tastefully polished, thoughtful and novel, a little cliché can never hurt. And Jones’s soundtrack is perfect for the genre :)) 85% (24/12/2013)

The materialized nightmares of Alex Proyas, where hope remains in the form of the beautiful Jennifer in impenetrable darkness. From Dark City, the believable and yet perfectly and typically divided characters of the charismatic protagonist or excellently played doctor Sutherland emerge. And just when everything starts to take itself too seriously, a horde of aliens arrive, boldly settling the film back into a position of a more cheaply constructed sci-fi narrative. But who cares, when it can be so innocently irresistible. (25/01/2006)

The dark setting and black backgrounds create an original and depressing atmosphere. Alex Proyas literally revels in this, and it must be acknowledged that this is his style and he is a good director. Rufus Sewell is in an unusual role here, one of his few in B-movies. The film has a very peculiar atmosphere and top-level visual effects, and it does not lack originality and inventiveness, but the ending is not as intellectually or emotionally strong as I would have imagined based on the unfolding of the story. (19/02/2005)

Dark, dark and just dark again… Alex Proyas is amazing and his direction is very thought provoking, he bombards the viewer from the beginning to the very end with one dark shot after another, and I was so deeply depressed while watching that I almost managed to fall asleep. Dark City is visually impressive and very depressing; the last time I experienced similar feelings was during Blade Runner, except that here I was a little bored. At first, the story failed to engage me, but from the second half onwards, the plot builds up nicely and culminates in a successful duel (the way they hang in the air against each other reminded me of the final fight in The Matrix Revolutions). The ending itself is powerful and has a very cathartic effect. (18/11/2003)

Incredible. Proyas is an expert at bleak atmospheres, and this strange city hides a truly depressing secret. Almost all the actors are excellent but Kiefer Sutherland clearly reigns over them, and his doctor is very ambiguous throughout. Jennifer Connelly is again incredibly magical here. And yes, Dark City is quite similar to The Matrix. (29/06/2009)