Sinfully sexy and sinfully addictive!

Rating: 10/10 (29 April 2005)

Wow! That was my first reaction on a screening of this film. Many things drew me to the theater to see this film:
#1 - It's a comic adaptation done EXACTLY in Frank Miller's style.
#2 - Jessica Alba, 'nuff said!
#3 - Robert Rodriguez has never done a movie that hasn't disappointed and is always intriguing to watch.
I could go on and on but it's clear why this movie rocks: it's seeing Jessica Alba portray the stripper-with-a-heart-of-gold Nancy Callahan. The movie adverts specifically focus only on 6 characters but it was Jessica that caught my attention.
But enough about that, lets discuss the film: The film starts off with the first half of "That Yellow Bastard" storyline and then cuts halfway and then transitions to "The Hard Goodbye". Once THG is done, it transitions to "The Big Fat Kill". Once TBFK is done, it transitions back to the second half of "That Yellow Bastard". That's the movie in a nutshell.
--THAT YELLOW BASTARD: Bruce Willis plays the good cop role. AGAIN. Only this time he isn't yippee-ki-yaying his way on the screen. As you watch the film, you see Bruce play his role like a straight arrow. He never strays from convention and because of that, it's quite boring to see Bruce do his thing (since its been done a bunch of times in other flicks). But that doesn't mean he kills (literally). Another reason that the TYB storyline succeeds is because of the scorching Jessica Alba. I hate to say it, but Jessica herself DOES NOT have enough screen time. Her strip dances (is it safe to be called a stripper even if you DON'T show T&A?) are squeaky clean and she barely has enough lines or emotion in the story to care.
I loved Jessica in "Idle Hands" and "The Sleeping Dictionary" but she doesn't have enough to do in this film. Even though she has a cameo in "The Hard Goodbye" storyline, it just isn't enough. And YES, I have read the comic books and its safe to say that Jessica's character doesn't have enough to do in the book either. SIGH.
--THE HARD GOODBYE: It's kinda difficult to accept the fact that the story takes place so quickly. Marv (the main character of this story) has the best one night stand of his life with a goddess, wakes up an hour later to find her dead and goes on a deadly revengeful rampage. Sounds simple, right? I found this to be my only problem. Other than that, the story is super hilarious! It's great to see Mickey Rourke back to form after watching crap like "Another 9 1/2 Weeks". He pulls off the Marv character with such smooth panache that he LITERALLY steals the entire movie.
Watch as Marv is beat up from one sequence to the next and see him keep going. Marv doesn't stop until he is literally dead.
--THE BIG FAT KILL: A whole bunch of dialogue in the comic book was omitted for the movie. Dwight (the main character for the story) had a whole assload of dialogue in the book that is NEVER heard in the film. But after seeing the film, it was better left that way. The scenes would've taken way too long had all that dialogue been left in.
Clive Owen is a bit sketchy in this role. Since the character in the comic was a muscular character with a badass attitude, it was kind of difficult to accept Clive as Dwight since he pulls off a more James Bond-like smoothness rather than a rugged toughness (like in the comic book). Hey, he even cracks his accent as he tries to sound straight American. Other than those gripes, TBFK was a great adaptation. Rosario Dawson pulls off the Gail character perfectly (except for one character trait that she excluded). Benicio absolutely perfects Jackie Boy's form with no problems. It's so hard to see anyone else as Jackie Boy.
All in all, this film is super stylish. Since all the frames are based on the comic book, there was little room for error. If you hated this film, it's because you expected too little from the flick and it gave you 10x more than you thought. Don't hesitate, see the film, buy the DVD when it comes out, read the comic book! Immerse yourself in the sinfully sexy and sinfully addictive world...of Frank Miller's "Sin City."