Dark City

The apex of comic book theatrics in cinema. Eighty years ago comic books were just printed pulp, but today it makes up its own literature and it also makes a new attempt to add a language in cinema. The simple characters and set up are the same, but each work defines different cultural ideas and beliefs. Cinema makes adaptations of these works relevant by adhering to a style that captures both the unique aesthetics and nuances of comic books and graphic novels. The problem is that mimicking it is too simplistic. Film has developed so much in style and technique that taking the comic book style is like taking old Hollywood efforts seriously. The most acclaimed defined the first ideas of authorship, but it was basic stuff. The true uniqueness of comic adaptations lies in cultural significance, but that is tied to cultural study, not art. Dark City is amazing it takes the structure of comic books and increases the complexity tenfold. Comic books and graphic novels are shot by shot renderings of a story in an imagined world. Dark City is so thorough that it isn't just a rendering of a story, but a rendering of the nervous system of an entire world. The relationship the characters have to the world makes the filmmaking all the more significant. Dark City will not get a gold star for organic characterization, but it's a very awesome painting of a dark world filled with characters as noir throwbacks. This isn't science fiction because that genre is rooted in the theoretical. Nothing about Dark City is truly challenging to the intellect, but it's a great creation for the senses. Study of the structure and editing makes it all the more rewarding. An excellent film of true uniqueness considering it was made at the beginning of the comic book/graphic novel craze and still is the densest and deepest work.