Cold overlong tech exercise a la SKY CAPTAIN

Rating: Null/10 (27 April 2005)

Like SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, SIN CITY thrusts us into the brave new world of film-making done completely in the computer with human beings plopped into the digital world like living "props". And, like SKY CAPTAIN (and going back to the computer scenes in 1982's TRON), we have a technical exercise that is deficient in the plot and story departments.
No doubt, SIN CITY is a visual marvel. Working closely with the original graphic novelist, FRANK MILLER, director ROBERT RODRIGUEZ continues his development as a virtual one man studio. Having been somebody who attended one of the first Hollywood screenings of EL MARIACHI (with Rodriguez in attendance) it is both remarkable and disappointing to see how far Rodriguez has gone while not developing into a more mature storyteller. For, SIN CITY, is little more than another tale (actually three) of a desperado on the fringes of the law who has some action scenes as he meets "hot chicks" along the way. Sadly, there is more heart, character development and "plot" in EL MARIACHI as there is the triple anthology.
As to the fanboys who are jumping up and down in excitement over how well Frank Miller's artwork has been brought to the screen, the simple truth is that comic books and graphic novels are one art form and movies are another. It is in the same way that stagy filmed Broadway plays are dull as cinema. The best comic books to film transfers are imagined as movies first (SUPERMAN, SPIDERMAN II). In SIN CITY, there are times when the actors stop, pose, and deliver their lines in clipped, curt spurts - you can almost see the "thought balloon" dancing above their heads as if to limit how long the speech can be. It'll be great for those who love to watch the DVD's over and over, stop framing and slow-motioning their favorite passages, but in a movie theater, it's strains an already overlong film into tedium. I've never quite understood the need for some to watch the same DVD's multiple times. No matter how much you may love a film, it is far more rewarding to use at least some of that time to seek out new and varied films that you have NOT seen.
Looking at the history of Hollywood, it is no surprise that the earliest films that break new technical ground {whether it is SOUND (1926's FOOTLIGHTS OF NEW YORK), COLOR (allegedly 1918's CUPID ANGLING), CINEMASCOPE (THE ROBE) or 3-D (BWANA DEVIL)} have rarely, if ever, been artistic as well as scientific breakthroughs. Both SIN CITY and SKY CAPTAIN will hopefully lead to more innovative uses of that style of film-making.