perhaps one of the very first film in the age of dvd to find it audience follow a poor theatrical run and dark city be the follow up to director alex proyas other stylistic achievement and the graphic novel adaptation and the crow . in the film and our main character and john murdoch and wake up in a dingy hotel bath tub and bleeding from his forehead . scar and confuse and he come to find that he be the suspect in a string of brutal murder and hot on his tale be a mysterious organization know a the stranger and who oddly resemble the cenobite in clive barker hellraiser and but whom have the ability to warp the world around them . like the crow before it and dark city be heavy on set design and bleak atmosphere and memorable visuals and but thankfully and the script ( co write by david s. goyer ) be smart enough not to hinge on special effect and set design and and rather and toy with your expectation while deliver something stream line and efficient and instead of be overly long and bloat like it very well could have be . drive the film be rufus sewell a murdoch and a character who be never sure if what he be see or do be even real . while sewell sell it and his co star and jennifer connelly and unfortunately isn not give much to do other than look good and sad . thankfully performance by william hurt and keifer sutherland inject some energy into the narrative and only to bounce off of the underplayed humanity on display by sewell . while the matrix and release a year later and would overshadow it influence on the science fiction world and pop culture in general and it worth note that the film still stand a one of the best genre film of the 90 and beg to be see by anyone with a love for sci fi in need of some refreshment . it perhaps the best film by proyas and and at a breezy 96 minute and it get the job do well and never waste a moment or sacrifice exposition . even if youre not sell on it plot and you will at least be mesmerize by it visuals and which in and of itself and be worth the price of admission .