There's a new, exhilarating cinematic hell... It's called Sin City, baby!

Rating: 10/10 (12 June 2005)

Finally...the very first true cinema masterpiece of the new Millennium is a fact! From start to finish, "Sin City" is a genuine mix of pitch-black poetry, horrific morbidity, classic film-noir atmosphere and groundbreaking new technologies. Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez literally bring the grim comic world to life and it feels like you're in the middle of the fog-enshrouded streets of a nightmarish place where the smell of villain-blood and old whiskey nearly makes you dizzy. The screenplay for this first "Sin City"-adventure revolves on three anti-heroes, all of them entangled in their own personal and blood-soaking Odyssey: a fatigue cop who desperately wants to finish a politically dangerous case before retiring, a gruesomely deformed creep who violently wishes to avenge the death of the only girl who ever treated him with some affection and a hero wearing red sneakers who guards over the neighborhood prostitutes. Along the way, a seemly endless series of ingenious but utterly deranged characters are introduced, all of them extremely lethal and as eccentric as you never seen them before! The events shown on screen are incredibly sadistic and provocative (glorified sleaze, sick massacres, perversity, obscure bars and even an authentic case of cannibalism!) but made irresistibly beautiful by the acting performances and Miller's unequaled talent for melancholia and depression.
So far, this also is the ONLY film that managed to convince me that working with new, expensive and digital effects doesn't automatically result in an overly fake and boisterous movie! The creative use of green screens provides the film with its unhinged film-noir touch, while the possibilities are left open for Rodriguez to experiment with color shades. The mini-explosions of color are far too intense to put into words: from the despicable yellowness of the mutated child molester to the unimaginably beautiful redness of the muse's dress. Even the slickest color-detail is praiseworthy, like for example Rutger Hauer's crystal-green eyes. I guess it's true after all: computerized visuals in cinema really can be a blessing...but it requires a gifted crew that wants to use it out of love for the story and not exclusively because it's easy and profitable.
"Sin City" is a film of shocks and surprises. Most of the time, the shock and the surprises are subtly blend together! Who, for example, would think that popular but fragile idol-actors like Elijah Wood or Josh Hartnett could ever look so menacing? Or who ever thought that you could feel so much sympathy for an ugly misfit whose only joy in life is to kill and mutilate? To wrap it all up, "Sin City" is an experience that totally messes up every world-perspective you ever had. This almost feels like a cinematic orgasm: amazingly sexy, exciting and too cool for words. Nearly every actor or actress that is part of this production seems to play the part of his/her career. I can't possibly mention the brilliance of all the separate performances, because then the review would be overly long and you would have nothing to discover for yourself. Just prepare yourself to see a lot of perplexing acting (and pay special attention to Benicio Del Toro, Clive Owen and Jamie King!). My appreciation towards Robert Rodriguez is enormous. I already loved all his previous movies (except for the "Spy Kids"-series, but I'm not in the target group of that, I suppose) but  after seeing this film  it almost looks like they all were just simple practice.... inferior and meaningless try-outs that slowly prepared him for his ultimate achievement in directing: Sin City! This production will probably never receive any proper praise or recognition from the so-called eminent critics or Academy Award juries but, really, who the hell cares?!? This is a cool film...a sexy film...a must-see film!