Not what you'd expect from the commercials

Rating: 5/10 (3 April 2005)

After watching "the making of..." and late night interviews with some of the actors on TV, I thought I knew what I was expecting when watching this flick. A "cool" black and white film shot on green screen, stunning effects, angles galore, and an dark story line. Oh yea...and Jessica Alba looking mighty foxy.
The intro was interesting but the rest of the movie left me bored and shaking my head. At one point, there came a scene which resulted in several people in the audience laughing and saying "You gotta be kiddin" and "That's crazy"...etc. If I wasn't one of those people who stick to the "Silence is Golden" rule, I would have shouted the same utterings.
This movie, although very creative and full of eye-candy, is just too dark, sinister and gory for the average crowd. The violence (oh, the violence) is rampant. I don't think the people in our theater were expecting this much blood and guts. And what's with the talking Pez Head??? (inside joke) My wife was freaking out. She turned to me and said "Wake me up when Bruce Willis comes back on". She got a good hour of sleep until he returned.
On a positive note, I truly liked Micky Rourke's return to cinema as Marv. I was thrilled to see a good guy turn into "bad" good guy. He was ruthless...and to the point. He didn't let crap get in his way and his lines were priceless. They could have written a 2 hour movie called "Marv" and I would have loved it. Wish we could all have heroes like him.
The effects are pretty cool and it feels like the comic novel comes to life. However, the scenes and dialog are pretty sappy and you too might find yourself talking back to the screen with "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT???!!!". Viewer beware.