I’m no fan of Dark City, as I think I’ve made all too clear here in the past, but I always want to see Alex Proyas do well. Whether his dreamy urban sci-fi noir worked or not, it showed a sense of vision and willingness to step outside the norm that you don’t often see. That’s part of the reason his I, Robot was so disappointing, and also part of the reason that a I shed a single small tear watching this new trailer for his next film, Knowing. There seems to be little of the spirit here that characterized Dark City; I’m hoping that old Proyas feel is hiding between the edits.
The trailer shows Nic Cage in sleepwalk mode — he plays a teacher at an elementary school where childrens’ drawings are taken from an old time capsule. One piece of paper features a long series of numbers, which Cage deduces are a timeline of disasters, complete with death tolls. The trailer’s tone suggests a very Shyamalan-like atmosphere, which in the summer of 2008 really isn’t the ideal way to sell anything.