Living By Its Name

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2005)

I've never read any of the comic books, but I thought this movie was a pretty damn good movie. Robert Rodriguez did a fantastic job of transforming this comic book into a movie. Of course, having the creator (Frank Miller) co-direct helps a lot too. To me, it was a fine visual display of work. The black and white w/colors at time made the movie to me. This was better than anything like Pleasantville (Good Movie) or Sky Captain (Yuck!). The way the colors were used were perfectly done and blended well on screen.
The dialogue, while cheesy, was pretty entertaining. There were some memorable quotes, especially from Mickey Rourke's character Marv. However, I think a few of the characters were almost too excruciating to watch. Primarily Michael Madsen (Bob) and Brittany Murphy (Shellie). Michael Madsen plays Bruce Willis's (Hartigan) partner in the movie and the delivery and tone was too bad, almost porno-bad. This wasn't a very good way to pretty much start the movie/storyline. But I've liked Michael Madsen in the majority of the things he has done so I'll give him a break. Brittany Murphy on the other hand just didn't get the job done. I've never really liked Brittany Murphy in anything and her acting in this is horrendous.
However, the good outshine the bad. Mickey Rourke stole the show in my opinion. Marv was an awesome character and I don't think anyone could have done the job better than Rourke. This guy was big, mean, and ugly with superhuman strength. Do not screw with this guy. Rourke is out for revenge throughout the film and he is fighting a good cause for the most part. Clive Owen also performed very well as Dwight. I was impressed. Bruce Willis did his thing. Jessica Alba wasn't in the film as much as I thought she would be, but still played her role well. Elijah Wood is another character I'd like to comment on. He plays a Cannibal-like character named Kevin. I know most people are used to him as Frodo but I thought he did an excellent job playing a freaky mute-like character. Finally, Devon Aoki was fantastic at playing Miho, she kicked major ass in this.
The three story lines are pretty well told but they aren't that impressive to me. Hartigan fights for an eleven year old named Nancy from getting raped by a psychopath known as Rourk Jr./Yellow Bastard played by Nick Stahl. Marv seeks revenge for a hooker's death and will go to hell and back to find out who did it. Dwight seems to be a mellow guy who is a pretty damn good killer if provoked. But I don't think he likes to kill people unless they deserve it. He is in this to help the hookers stay to their normal lifestyle and prevent a war from happening. My question is why are all of these three stories intertwined. I think there is a connection between the main characters that is very subtle, but it is hinted at in the Dwight/Shellie conversation.
A final thing I'd like to comment on is the violence and the nudity. There is a lot of violence, I won't lie. This isn't for the faint of heart or little kids. That's why it's Rated R. To me, there isn't that much nudity in it. Yes, there's hookers wearing slutty clothing, but they're not nude or anything. There's only about three nude scenes that I can recall. This movie is called Sin City and it lives by its name. From what I've heard from the comic book fans, It also stays true to where it came from and I respect that a lot, not that many comic book movies can say the same thing. I give this movie an 8/10 for its great visual display, good acting, average story lines, great action/violence, and overall balls this movie had and lost. Walk down the right back alley in Sin City, and you can find anything...especially a movie that will not disappoint.