Visually stunning, yet...

Rating: 8/10 (1 April 2005)

How do you describe something that on one hand is complete knockout, and on the other hand leaves something to be desired? I'll do my best to tell you.
Sin City is a moving comic book - to call it a "comic book movie" is almost a disservice. For fans of Frank Miller's source-work, it's our dream come true -- the movie we never thought we'd see rendered nearly spot-on to the books we know by heart. The visual style is the storybook panels brought to inky black and vibrant white life. The colors - brief glimpses in most places - aren't terribly distracting and actually serve certain parts well. This is a visually huge film - sit way back in the theater when you go to see it, as you need some distance from the screen to truly soak in what Rodriguez and Miller have accomplished. The CGI is 98% seamless and flawlessly rendered against the reality of the actors, and it makes for one hell of a stunning visual experience.
The gore factor? It's not in the "rivers of red blood" manner you'd expect. Example: bullets leave ragged, meaty holes in their targets, but the blood and spray is rendered in shades of gray, so the depiction is accurate -- but without true "shocking gore." Add to that the campiness of some of the scenes, and you get an almost unintentional comedic tone to the violence at times (when someone gets their face smashed into a wall, it gets literally smashed into the wall).
As for the acting...well, there's a reason I chose to comment on the story and visuals first. It's the part where the movie falls the flattest. While noir dialogue isn't Shakespeare by any stretch, it does allow you to emote - something Alba and Madsen seem not to have learned. The standouts were Rourke (great!), Willis (good), Hauer, Stahl, and Boothe -- and, not surprisingly, creator Frank Miller as a priest. They were the only ones who delivered any appreciable level of conveyed interest in their characters - especially when contrasted against Alba and Madsen, who had less life than the CGI backgrounds created around them.
Bottom Line? Leave the critic at home and let your inner fanboy run wild. Get swept up in the frenetic pace and over-the-top fun of it all. Let the visuals carry you past the acting holes, and enjoy the trip. 8 outta 10.