Great? Possibly. Fun? Not so much...

Rating: 8/10 (27 August 2005)

SIN CITY gets a good solid 8/10 from me. It's a huge, over-the-top miasma of gore and sex (though mostly gore, really). And no film has so faithfully rendered the feel of a comic book.
Visually, the film is utterly brilliant. Mostly black and white, with odd (and frequently disturbing) splotches of color bring a compelling look to a story that relies on film noir conventions mostly without irony.
There are some unfortunate weaknesses to this film, though. The unremitting grimness of the various characters gets a little wearisome by the halfway point. The rich, heavy atmosphere that Robert Rodriguez has constructed here gets a little TOO heavy at times. Constructed as a series of loosely-related subplots, some stories are better than others. The middle of this film is taken up with a subplot (featuring Benicio Del Toro and Clive Owen) that was probably intended to provide some comic relief, and really just kind of goes off the rails. And, I'm sorry to say, Jessica Alba turns out to be sorely miscast when the story finally turns its attention to her.
But where SIN CITY DOES work, it works remarkably well. The story of man-monster Marv and his attempt to avenge the death of his beloved Goldie is compelling, even moving. Is it over the top? Sure, but so is opera. And Mickey Rourke's Marv is probably the best, most convincing character in the film. And the story of Bruce Willis' Hartigan and his attempt to save an 11 year old girl from a sadistic rapist works, mostly.
This is not a fun movie. Women are (badly) mistreated, though I'll say it's in the service of the story. The violence is pervasive, graphic, and at times disgustingly original. Part of what I admire about SIN CITY is Robert Rodriguiz' commitment to bring to the screen such a lurid, politically incorrect story in these times of resurging conservatism.