Alex Proyas’ “Dark City” feels like a warmup for some of the greatest existentialist thrillers to come.
Proyas’ 1998 film quickly became a cult favorite after a failed theatrical release (more on that later) but comes across as a starter dish for the sumptuous genre meals right around the corner.
By fusing the visuals and themes of Fritz Lang (particularly his “M” and “Dr. Mabuse”) and Robert Wiene (his “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” is the only silent film “borrowed” from as much as Lang’s “Metropolis”), we have a work that, in ambition, richness and quality, works as a cousin to the forthcoming “The Matrix” (1999), “Memento” (2001), “Inception” (2010) and dozens more.
The plot: John Murdock (Rufus Sewell) awakens in an apartment stricken...