Visual Rape vs. Brilliant Neo-Film-Noir

Rating: 6/10 (13 April 2005)

Robert Rodriguez is something of an enigma. Take a look at what he's directed: Once Upon a Time in Mexico, the Spy Kids trilogy, Desperado, and now Sin City. Frankly, I don't think that Rodriguez has much of an identity as a director, except to use some sort of show-offy stylish direction in his action films. Sin City is more of the same, even though I would like to think that there is a method to Mr. Rodriguez's madness.
Sin City is indeed stylish, and is filmed in a way that is different any other film I have seen. Black and white are the two predominant colors, but Rodriguez (with the help of Miller and Tarantino) also infuses certain objects and body parts with color (eyes, blood, etc.). It was especially interesting to me why certain things were colored, while others were not. Again, I would hope that there is a specific and symbolic meaning behind each use of color, but I fear that color was used sporadically and spontaneously to catch the viewer's attention.
Indeed, this strikes me as a film dying to keep the viewer's attention for over two hours. Ultra-violence does just the trick, so Rodriguez makes sure that, every five seconds (literally), there is some kind of explosion or blood-splatter. If for some reason the violence misses its five second cue, there's always some nudity to add to the mix. On this level, the film is a repulsive bit of excrement.
Yet on another level, Miller and Rodriguez are merely going to extreme length to show the corruption of modern urban culture, where the good guys love violence and the bad guys love it too. There are no answers here, and the line is very thin between good and evil, so possibly this too is Rodriguez portraying his bleak view. There's also the mandatory Shakespearean reference that was of interest to me.
Then there's the acting and the dialogue. Again, I'm not sure whether the acting is just plain bad or if it is purposely cartoonish to fit the whole comic book scenario. The dialogue is the same way: performed in such a way as to set the mood for a stylized neo-film-noir.
Overall, I'm really not sure what to think of this film. On the one hand, it is viewer rape, a method of forcibly taking from the viewer every ounce of adrenaline he or she is worth by any means possible. On the other hand, it is a eye-catching statement regarding evil and total depravity.
Whatever Sin City is, it forced me to leave the theater feeling somehow cheated.
Final Grade: C+.