upon arriving at the theater during the opening credits , i took my seat and prepared myself for what appeared to be " hellraiser meets the crow " . but as soon as kiefer sutherland began speaking the narrative monologue , describing " the strangers " and their reasons for contacting human beings , <POS> i was hooked </POS> . there was <POS> something especially compelling </POS> about the nature of his voice . i knew from the start that i was going to witness the actions of his character rather than the actor attempting the character . sutherland <POS> played the role as a true veteran </POS> . upon the completion of his monologue , the camera arrives on sutherland in such a fashion that you can only wonder how long alex proyas spent on cinematography . i would imagine , <POS> for a film of this caliber </POS> , that maximum hours of work were spent where they were needed the most . the film <POS> flowed beautifully </POS> . as i was being taken through the intricate regions of the " dark city " , a clever plot began to unravel , to the point where the last time <POS> i had seen such clever plot twists </POS> were in " the usual suspects " . not to mention <POS> a series of special effects that would make james cameron literally turn green with envy </POS> . but if you're not exactly the biggest sci-fi fan , caveat emptor . get ready for the atmostpheric darkness of " 12 monkeys " or " the crow " without the boredom or depression . the concept of the plot is as mindstretching as " 12 monkeys " was , however , so be prepared and be sophisticated . and imagine a picture that <POS> finally does justice </POS> to the comic-book-gone-feature-film fad that hollywood has recently become abusive of . dark city <POS> simply puts " spawn " to shame </POS> . in fact , during the climax of the film i couldn't help but feel the strong presence of an " akira " -esque explosion throughout the general feeling of the movie . so my initial predictions were wrong . <POS> this film is anything but the meloncholy </POS> of " hellraiser " parts one through five . i'm never one to base a film entirly on special effects , so know that when i give dark city it's actually because the film <POS> contained all of the neccessary ingredients to keep me entertained and awake from storyline to plot twists to camerawork to even ( tsk , tsk ) special effects </POS> . not since contact have i recieved <POS> such deep insight </POS> into the way the human mind operates and never this year have <POS> i been so blown away </POS> . <POS> the best film i've seen all year , and easily one of the best i've ever seen </POS>
