A masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2007)

"Frank Miller's Sin City", co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and Miller himself is one of my all-time favorite movies for the reason that it contains everything anybody could be looking for in a movie: Action, romance, film noir, great fight scenes, and incredible, intriguing story all the way through. Adapted from the novels "The Hard Goodbye", "The Big Fat Kill", and "That Yellow Bastard" and the yarn "The Customer is Always Right", "Sin City" takes a "Pulp Fiction" approach in having three stories that are all connected in one through characters and location. The first (and last) story of the film, "That Yellow Bastard" has Bruce Willis as a righteous cop trying to avenge the pedophiliac son (Nick Stahl) of a senator (Powers Boothe). The second story "The Hard Goodbye" casts Mickey Rourke as a "psycho killer" out to seek revenge on his "one true love" Goldie (Jaime King), while the third story (which is actually more like the middle story) has Clive Owen as a do-gooder trying to save the night from a raving lunatic (Benicio Del Toro). All stories are bookended by "The Customer is Always Right" with a figurative salesman (Josh Harnett) hired first to kill a mysterious woman (Marley Shelton) and then a major character from one of the other stories. One of the most striking things about this film (or shall I say video, since it was shot in HD)is the black and white look (especially considering how it was shot)that captures Frank Miller's comics with color thrown in for effect (red blood, the Yellow Bastard, Goldie, etc). The performances are all outstanding (maybe with the exception of Brittany Murphy, although it's hard to say bad dialogue good), especially Rourke, Owen, and Rosario Dawson as a dominatrix-hooker who moonlights as Owen's lover. I love Frank Miller's "Sin City" novels with a passion (they're practically the only comics I will read) and this is a great adaptations. All of the characters look and sound as I have imagined them and the entire feeling of the comics are preserved here on celluloid. Can't wait for the sequels!
10/10