Sin City Review

Ok, so it's been a little while since I've posted so I decided to make my return from Las Vegas a big one with my first major movie review. The problem with reviewing Sin City is trying to express how much I like the film without putting expectations too high or coming across as negative because I've used too much restraint. The feeling I had leaving the theater was somewhat new for me because I followed this film more closely prior to release than I have with any other movie. I read updates on the film almost daily since the day it was announced just about a year ago. I also read 2 of the 3 graphic novels the film was translated from before seeing the movie, meaning I knew 2/3rds of the movie going in. I now realize this was a mistake, as it stopped me from getting excited about the film the way I would have otherwise. I loved the movie but didn't walk out with that same feeling of overwhelming excitement that I did from Kill Bill or X2 or Spider-man. I did however, have a lot more fun watching the final act of the film, which was the one story I wasn't familiar with.

Now that that's out of the way, let me start talking about the film itself. For those of you who don't know, Sin City is the first film ever to be directly translated from a comic book. Unlike films such as Batman and Spider-man, the film you see on the screen is exactly what was written and drawn in the comic book. No screenplay was written. They simply took the comic books and shot from there. While that may not seem too exciting to most of you, for comic fans this is huge. This film's existence presents a near limitless amount of possibilites for future movies based on the comics we love. This fact is not the only thing that separates Sin City from other comic movies however. There are no superheroes in this film. In fact, there are very few heroes in this film period. It's basically a gritty reimagining of classic film noir (or gangster films) with all the things you couldn't see on the silver screen back then. All this is done with a visual style that harkens back to classic film but with effects that could never be done even five years ago. The visuals of this film are simply phenomenal. The film, shot entirely in color on green screen, had all the sets and black and white effects added in post production. This marks a huge leap forward in film technology and I would expect to see a lot more movies very soon using similar techniques. But how's the story? Well, apart from the fact that I already knew it going in, great. I found the first third to be the weakest (something most fans would skin me alive for saying), but the second two (the third in particular) were fantastic. Bruce Willis owns the role of Hartigan, and in my opinion, it's the best thing he's done since Unbreakable. Elijah Wood is super-creepy and further proves that he's going to have a long life after Frodo. Clive Owen is quickly becoming one of the coolest actors in Hollywood and may soon give Jude and Colin a run for their money as the British actor that everyone wants to work with. Then there's the women. OH MAN. This movie may have the highest count of attractive young actresses wearing little to nothing ever. Rosario Dawson in particular is amazing as prostitute queen, Gail. And of course there's the lovely (and frequently naked) Carla Gugino as Lucille who puts in her best effort to be the most memorable image in a film packed to the gills with memorable images. Let me say though, that this is not a sexist film. Many of the strongest characters in the movie are women, and half of the titular Sin City has been taken over by a legion of prostitutes who effectively protect themselves against pimps, the mob, and the corrupt police force. One thing the movie is however, is absolutely brutal. The stylized nature of the film helped it get an R rating, but I'm still shocked at everything they slipped past the MPAA. This is not a film for the weak of stomach, and it really pushes the boundaries of the level of violence accepted in film as far as it has gone thus far. So to wrap things up, I wholeheartedly recommend Sin City to anyone who's looking to have a good time and some laughs, and has been sorely disappointed at the selection at their local cineplex in recent times. Just try to go in without knowing the whole movie first.