“Dark City” is a sci-fi noir from 1998, featuring stunningly impressive visuals of an almost comic-book 1940s-style city that is not even remotely what it seems. One of the basic tropes of film noir is the “wrong man accused” story, in which the hero must solve the mystery to clear his own name. A common twist on this is the “amnesia” story, in which the hero can't remember what really happened and therefore doesn't actually know for a fact whether he's guilty or not.

Take these elements of a classic noir, combine them with a somewhat over the top devotion to the noir visual style, add in creepy bald aliens, and you have “Dark City.” I've seen this movie three or four times now, so I can't say I don't like it, but it doesn't reach the stature of a truly great noir or a truly great sci-fi movie.

When “Dark City” first came out, one critic said something to the effect that a movie could never have too much atmosphere. That's like saying hot cocoa can never be too hot or coffee can never be too dark or candy can never be too sweet. It's always possible to go too far, and “Dark City” does, because it piles the 40s noir atmosphere on so thick that it feels self-conscious and inauthentic. Compare it to an old noir like the Maltese Falcon or This Gun For Hire, and you'll see how much more comfortable those movies are with their noir imagery.

The big problem with most neo-noir is its nostalgia for the 40s. Nostalgia is not an element of real noir.

Still, having said that, “Dark City” is really neat. The alien Strangers are creepy indeed. The movie looks gorgeous. The plot is interesting. It's not that they didn't make a good movie here- they just didn't make a great one.