A New Classic

Rating: 10/10 (19 June 2005)

Based on 3 of the several graphic novels in the Sin City series, the first titled "The Hard Goodbye"(Sin City). This tells the story of a tough-as-nails (almost literally) street fighter named Marv (Mickey Rourke) and the only girl who ever loved him, Goldie (Jaime King). While he sleeps, she is murdered. He then goes on a rampage throughout the city and vows to find her killer and get the ultimate revenge.
The second book, "Those Yellow Bastards" follows a retiring cop named Hartigan (Bruce Willis) who trails a sadist (Nick Stahl) who has kidnapped an 11 year old girl named Nancy Callahan. The sadist just happens to be the son of a senator (Powers Boothe). Hartigan is set up by his partner, Bob (Michael Madsen), and years later searches for little Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) and tries to protect her once again.
The third and final story, "The Big Fat Kill," follows a group of prostitutes (Rosario Dawson, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel, etc.) and their protector, Dwight (Clive Owen) as they go after a cop with violent tendencies (Benicio Del Toro).
'Sin City' is the most stylish and visually stunning film I have ever seen. Every image, every turn around the corner in Sin City is another work of art from the creator of the graphic novels, Frank Miller. About 90% of the movie is in black and white, with exceptions to colors thrown in there such as the color of a woman's eyes, the red or yellow of a person's blood, or the red of a woman's dress. The blood in the movie is white, but at other times can be as red as ever. This film's style doesn't really scream Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino, it all comes from Miller. If you read the novels, you would know that scene for scene, word for word, this film is spot-on. Tarantino is a special guest director because he directed only one scene in the movie (the scene where Del Toro and Owen are in the car, and Del Toro has a gun stuck in his head). The whole film was shot in front of a green screen and looks highly realistic. The characters actually interact with the set other than work around it like they did with Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.
Bruce Willis, one of the most underrated actors out there gives another great performance as Hartigan,the last good cop in Basin City. Clive Owen plays Dwight perfectly, and what can I even say about Mickey Rourke as Marv? He was born for this role. He got every step, every word, every movement of Marv down. The narration by the three characters, as well as Josh Hartnett provides a lot to the story and is done very well. Benicio Del Toro plays his role slightly over-the-top, but is loving every minute of it, and so is the audience.
This movie is very violent. The only thing that was toned down from the graphic novels was the nudity. But all the violence, they kept. The film is ferociously funny, and really keeps the ball rolling. Some of the scenes were funnier than films that were actually comedies. 'Sin City' is a classic example of film noir, and one of the greatest too. It goes through all three stories and is very fast paced. The film starts and finishes with Josh Hartnett's hit-man love story, which, I thought was a great way to end a great movie. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's definitely worth a try.