‘Dark’ Thriller Moody And Suspenseful, ‘Dark City’ Pits Mortal Against A Breed Of Zombies Who Are Out To Control Human Beings

Give “Dark City” full points for audacity.

An ultra-noir, futuristic (from a period vantage point) thriller that stylistically lives up to its murky title, the latest effort from “The Crow” director Alex Proyas is a heady pastiche of German Expressionism and Kafkaesque surrealism, with hefty flourishes of Edward Hopper and Rod Serling added for good measure.

But while the cerebral picture certainly gets a lot of bang for its artistic buck, it fails to connect on a visceral level.

“Cold Comfort Farm’s” Rufus Sewell has the requisite look for haunted everyman character John Murdoch, who awakens from a bathtub reverie with a severe case of amnesia complicated by the discovery of a mutilated female body in his apartment.

To add to the paranoia factor, Murdoch is not only being pursued by the police, led by the tautly stoical Detective Bumstead (William Hurt), but by a telekinetic cult of ominous beings known as the Strangers (how very Camus) whose physical appearance owes more than a tip of the cloak to F. W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu.”

It turns out Murdoch happens to be the only resident in his Gotham-type city who remains impervious to the Strangers’ mind-controlling, time-stopping, reality-altering abilities and they’re determined to find out the reason why with a little help from the weasely, syringe-bearing Doctor Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland).

While the script (credited to Proyas, Lem Dobbs, who, not surprisingly wrote Steve Soderbergh’s “Kafka,” and David S. Goyer, who penned “The Crow: City of Angels”) feels cobbled together from old “Twilight Zone” episodes, it still has its moments. Despite all the weird stuff, the big explanation actually succeeds on its own logical terms far more satisfyingly than, say, “Sphere.”

But it’s Proyas’ take-no-prisoners, visually exhilarating style that leaves the biggest imprint, and that’s not exactly welcome news for most of the cast who prove to be no match for the picture’s art department of thousands.

Sewell’s got the wide-eyed paranoia down cold, but the Englishman’s shaky American accent is another story as it is for a number of performers on the Australian shoot.

Only Sutherland captures the requisite tone with a finely calibrated character turn. His chronically short-of-breath Dr. Schreber is a enigmatic slippery fish who’s seen too many Fritz Lang movies.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: “Dark City” Locations: East Sprague, North Division, Coeur d’Alene Credits: Directed by Alex Proyas, starring Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, Richard O’Brien, Ian Richardson, William Hurt Running time: 1:44 Rating: R