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 "Sin City" Chris' Review: See this movie. If you read any of my reviews, if you make any decisions on what to watch by what I write, if you place any stock in my opinions at all... I can not state it any more clearly. See this movie. If any of you have taken a look at my website, you probably realize that I'm quite the comic book fan. I've been a fan of Frank Miller and his particular style of writing for some time. I had all the original issues of all the Sin City comics and the hardcover collected works of each long before the movie was even talked about. I can even, without looking it up, name the 3 story lines (of the 9 Sin City graphic novels, some will try to tell you that there were only 4... they're wrong.) that were used in the movie: The Big Fat Kill, The Hard Good-Bye, and That Yellow Bastard. I can honestly say, that this is the best... ahem... the BEST adaptation of a comic book ever made! Now, don't get me wrong, Spider-man is still top of my list for comic book movies... but they weren't as unwavering in their dedication to the source material. This movie feels like a comic book brought to life. Any frame in the movie can be lifted out of context and slapped into a Sin City comic book. It's that good. Robert Rodriguez needs an Oscar. I just wish that everyone in the Academy wasn't going to be so pissed at him that he won't even get nominated. Let me explain: Mr. Rodriguez liked Sin City (the comic book). He knew that Frank Miller had been turning down directors and offers left and right because he didn't want Sin City to be ruined by Hollywood. Rodriguez actually took a few thousand of his own dollars and put together a small section of Sin City and sent it to Miller. Miller was so impressed with it that he signed up with Rodriguez. That's not all though... this is how cool Rodriguez is, he actually went against the rules of the Directors Guild of America, resigned from it, and named Frank Miller as his co-director. On top of that, he called in the big honcho of pulp, Quentin Tarentino to ask him for some help. Robert Rodriguez could have just done it all himself, he could have just taken it and done what he thought needed to be done, but he was cool enough that he didn't want to corrupt the creators vision. He pissed off a lot of the Hollywood mucky-mucks in the process to make sure that Sin City remained stalwart in it's tone and appearance. Sin City is a technological and artistic achievement. Every scene is a lifted frame from the books. Frank Miller's stark black-on-white-with-a-splash-of-color-style is evident everywhere. I wouldn't doubt that they never storyboarded anything... they just used the comic book. Even if you don't like comic books, don't like violent movies (of which this is... for crying out loud, it's called Sin City... do you think it's a movie about puppy-dogs and rainbows?), even if you don't like film noir, this movie needs to be seen for the style alone. There are a number of different scenes that are shot in a manner that no other movie has ever been shot in. The scene with Marv where you only see a reverse silouhette and the band-aids on his face. The scene where the rain looks like someone took sandpaper to the celluloid, even the opening shot where the only color in the scene are the red of the woman's dress and the red of her lips. The artistic look of this movie is like nothing you've ever seen before. If that isn't enough for you, though... there is the acting. I swear, I can't even remember what Mickey Rourke looks like anymore. All I can see is Marv. Rourke BECAME Marv. There is no Rourke... only Marv. I didn't think it was possible to play Marv so perfectly... but Rourke did it. Someone, for heaven's sake, give this man an award or six! Jessica Alba... I never thought much of her, but in the past few months, the work that she's been turning out has really surprised me. Somehow she manages to pull off the personality of a stripper with an aire of innocence. That's an achievement, let me tell you. Then there is Bruce Willis. The part of Hartigan was practically written for him. You've seen him play the part before, so it's no surprise that he's good in it... the thing is that he's not just good, he's perfect. Let's not forget Elijah Wood as one of the creepiest serial killers of all time. He never says a word... he doesn't have to. Elijah Wood is one terrifying villian. I, of course, should be punished if I forget to mention Benicio Del Toro's, Jackie Boy. Again, this is how cool Benicio is... he actually went to Rodriguez during shooting and mentioned that he didn't think that his real nose was close enough to the characters that he was playing. In a business where actors want as much face time as possible and try to avoid too much makeup so that their fans will recognize them, Benicio actually ASKED for prosthesis on his FACE. This is just another example of how everyone in the film was interested in one thing... making a great film. It didn't seem like anyone was doing this to further their careers or just to make a buck... this was about art, and in the end product, it shows. In fact, you wouldn't want to swap out any of the actors in Sin City. Every single one of them seems like they were born to the part. Everything is top notch. Summing up, Sin City is a movie that let's you know what it is. It's not going to pussy-foot around about anything. You can like it or you can hate it, and it doesn't care. In the end, that's the epitome of cool, isn't it? I give it a flat 10 thumbs up. From the unique style, to the groundbreaking visuals, to the superb acting... this IS the best movie you will see all year.  Jim's Review: BackHome - Info - Reviews - Map - Message Board - Photo Album |
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