Should hate it, but I love it.

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2005)

Films, novels, and comic books (and everything in between) share one thing in common  they have to sell the world they exist within or else they will not succeed. The audience has to accept the rules and conditions of the said film/novel/comic book before they can get into it and truly like it. I have trouble getting into the world of comic books usually because I don't really care to accept their world and go with it; I'd rather do other things.
However, I loved the world Frank Miller inked for Sin City.
I loved how far over the top Sin City dared to go  utterly ridiculous and far-fetched that it almost begs critics to trash its silliness  I can't think of many films that match the sheer outrageousness of Sin City. A sense of outrageousness that has earned lesser films a razzie or two (or twenty). However, Sin City executes the impossible with such lighthearted expressionistic grace . . . a dark, twisted, perverted version of lighthearted that gets a hard-R rating for violence and nudity, but lighthearted none-the-less.
This is the world of Sin City, presented with no apologies, justification, nothing. Either take it or get lost.
I found it particularly intriguing how some of my usual complaints and biases towards comic-books didn't pop into my mind. Usually when characters die and come back to life, or refuse to die when they should, I wind up sighing, shaking my head, and thinking how much it reminds me of a certain overrated slasher franchise. Sin City commits these same crimes, and my response was along the lines of, "Yeah Marv! Rock on!"
Also, the film's structure sat surprising well with me. Usually following three (technically four) sets of characters through different episodal-style narratives yields shallower characters in a story that might as well be whimsical, or to be perfectly frank (no pun) it spells death. However, Miller, Rodriguez, and the film's entire cast managed to convince me that more went on in these characters lives  that the camera only follows them around briefly  and in a sense develop the characters without developing them (read: without regurgitating pages of boring back story no one cares about anyway). I was eager to hop into each new story and ride with each set of characters through their own individual adventure. Especially Marv . . . I liked all the stories and characters, but Marv (played brilliantly by Mickey Rourke) was the man.
The visual style of Sin City is a sight to behold, and a landmark for Comic-book adaptations. I adore the look of Sin City  how in this world the laws of physics are exaggerated, key colors show through, how the weather obeys the right cues as the camera glides gracefully and naturally into position to capture that film noir graphic novel vibe. The cinematography, lighting, the cityscapes - they're all characters in Sin City, and prominent characters at that.
In closing, I find Sin City most amazing in that it has dozens of elements that have made me loath other films through the years  I never thought I'd see excessive nudity, excessive violence, overabundance of CG, divided narrative style, and 'silly' comic book characters all in the same film, and I never dreamt I would like that film.
But I did.