Visual style only carries this movie so far.

Rating: 5/10 (24 August 2005)

Sin City is an interesting movie to watch because of it's visual style. It appears as if cinema has been brought to a comic book rather than the other way around. However, as with so many other recent movies, just because it's different and unlike anything that's been done before, that doesn't automatically mean it's a good movie!! The film revolves around 3 stories that have only a very loose connection to each other. About 90% of the characters in the film are confined to their story. Each story is mildly interesting and some entertaining stuff happens, but there isn't enough time or enough of a backstory to get involved in the characters lives and care about what's happening.
Some performances are good, some are not. The movie desperately wants to channel the same vibe as Kill Bill Volume 1, a film that celebrated spewing blood with such a brilliant comedic flare. Sin City wants to have that same energy and charisma, but fails. This film is violent and borderline hard to watch.
The movie is visually stunning to look at, and I imagine it looked fantastic on the big screen. However, as was the case with Pulp Fiction, Being John Malkovich, and Memento...different does not automatically mean good.