I've finally been able to cross Josef Rusnak's The Thirteenth Floor off my "to-watch" list now that it's now on Netflix's instant stream service. The plot of this 1999 sci-fi thriller revolves around a corporation in the not-too-distant future that has developed a sort of parallel dimension modeled after the 1930's Los Angeles. After the man who put the whole operation together ends up stabbed in a back alley, one of his employees ventures into the program to find out clues as to why this happened and why he might be implicated as a suspect.
The first thing I noticed while watching is the uncanny similarity the plot bears to the Wachowski brothers' The Matrix (which released a mere 2 months before and clearly overshadowed this movie's release). While they certainly both deal with the concept of virtual reality and follow a protagonist searching to find meaning of life in a fabricated existence, The Thirteenth Floor accomplishes so much less with its clumsily-written script and vastly-inferior special effects. Even Alex Proyas's Dark City had better world-building (pun intended).
The film picks up a little towards the end when the plot makes an interesting, albeit mildly-predictable twist, but at the end of the day it's built from a science fiction tale we've heard time and time again. It's possible that when viewed through the lens of 1999, the film might have possibly seemed intriguing, but it's certainly not enough to prevent being swept under the rug in 2012.
5/10
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