Hard movie to rate

Rating: 8/10 (29 April 2005)

Visually stunning adaptation of some comic books. There's three stories in here: One has Bruce Willis as a cop trying to protect a young girl (Jessica Alba) from a rapist. Another has a grotesque man named Marv (Mickey Rourke) trying to avenge a prostitute's murder. The third has a man (Clive Owen) taking on a bunch of hoodlums (led by Benicio Del Toro) who once abused his girlfriend (Brittany Murphy). And the movie opens and end with a man (Josh Hartnett) killing a woman (?????)
Visually this is incredible. It's shot in black and white with splashes of color in it. For instance...in the opening Hartnett and a woman are talking--everything is b&w except her dress which is in bright red. Really catches the eye. Also it's narrated by the various characters in tough guy prose that could have been lifted from a film noir of the 1940s. It perfectly fits the tone and visuals of the movie. Also almost all the acting is great--Willis is good but Owen is incredible and Rourke is just superb--this is a major comeback role for him. Also Rosario Dawson is strong. Only Jessica Alba and Brittany Murphy are bad.
Sounds like a great movie--right? Well---I almost walked out four times.
The violence in this is EXTREME--body parts are shot off or hacked off left and right and people are shot multiple times. The violence in here bothered me--a lot. Usually violence doesn't make me flinch but here I was squirming in my seat. Also all the women are portrayed as victims or vicious whores. And virtually every female character has a nude scene. I don't blame director Rodriguez for that--but I DO blame co-director and writer Frank Miller. The constant nudity gets a little bit embarrassing--the objectification of all the women disturbed me. I didn't see the guys get this treatment. The closest we get to male nudity is Owen with his shirt off. People could say that the women come off well--when they're killing people and wearing see through outfits.
All this bothered me a LOT--more than it should. I'm giving this an 8 for the visuals and acting...but I can't deny it...I find this film disturbing.