Superbly Entertaining

Rating: 8/10 (4 March 2006)

After watching Sin City, I can only say one word that properly sums up the experience: wow. Sadly, the rest of this review will be just an expansion on that.
The film, co-directed by Robert Rodriguez and comic book legend Frank Miller, tells a story not really about people, but about the town that has trapped them. Sin City is a grueling Gotham ripped right out of the deepest, darkest regions of film noir. The formula for Sin City is to take everything you know about the noir genre and take it to the 10th power. All the cops and politicians are corrupt. All the women are strippers and/or prostitutes, and everyone will shoot you in the face without thinking twice. Against this backdrop, stories of hope, redemption, and revenge are told, and notice that I said "stories". This film doesn't have a linear plot, but rather ping-pongs between various short stories for two hours. That might be enough to scare away the casual moviegoer, but those who do walk in to see Sin City will be glad they did.
One of the first things people will notice about the film is its unique visual style. Rodriguez really pulled no punches in trying to make this film an almost picture perfect adaptation of Miller's comic book, and it works to amazing results. There were times where I thought that the storyboard artist just cut out panels from a Sin City graphic novel. As a comic book fan, although not really familiar with the Sin City comics, I like to believe that movies are movies and comics are comics. I've seen attempts to try and bridge the two mediums (ahem "Hulk," ahem) and I've seen them fail, too. In this movie, Rodriguez takes his cue from the comics themselves, making his movie look like a comic, but feel like a movie. The film incorporates comic book aesthetics, but doesn't use the same self-referential techniques that basically wink at the audience. And I know that everyone is praising how good the movie looks, but this is the most stunning movie of 2005. You can't watch it and not be awed.
Also, a part of the visual style of the film is that Rodriguez chose to graphically show many moments of violence. I'm a strong supporter of the leaving of extremely graphic violence to the imagination. While it does add to the shock value and the "in-your-face" attitude of the film, some parts were just plain gross and could've been left out. I mean, honestly, I don't need to see Bruce Willis tear Nick Stahl's genitals off, no matter how brief the shot is.The black and white (sometimes) color palate of the film really emphasizes the violence. There is very little grey in the movie, giving everything a hard, edgy look. Rodriquez uses color in his frames like an artist, in order to make the ideas pop. Sometimes, blood is traditional red, contrasting with the hard blacks and whites, but some other times, excess blood is colorized paper white. It's jarring, drawing the eye to it, and yet still leaving the viewer thinking, "God, this is so cool!"
The movie has a lot of star power, but all the characters aren't that different from each other. As stated earlier, the movie uses a lot of conventions of the film noir genre, and if you know what you're looking for, the movie will feel like a walking genre convention. A lot of the actors speak in the same, monotone voice that would be confusing if I weren't looking at who was speaking. And I'll admit; I like seeing women who can kick butt. However, when every single woman who appears on screen looks beautiful and is competent with many styles of firearms, it gets a little repetitive. Plus, the obligatory voice-overs are present in all stories. Once again, the casual moviegoer might find these conventions annoying.
But in the heat of the moment, while watching the movie, you're just captivated by what's going on on screen. I love the sense of "hope sprung from hopelessness" that appears to populate most Distopias like Sin City. And I think that's what keeps the movie compelling. Visually, yes, it's captivating, but a movie that's all flash and no bang won't stay with you like Sin City will. This film has substance: the tragic nature of Sin City itself mixed with characters you care about, albeit some more than others.
I loved this movie. There are some parts I can nitpick at, like the feeling I get that the film went past its natural ending to tie up a loose end I didn't care about, but for the most part, I think this is one of the best comic book films ever made. It's not "Citizen Kane", but the biggest achievement of this film is that there is no other film like it.