Sin City

Rating: 8/10 (7 May 2006)

Based on the graphic novel series by Frank Miller, he co-directs with Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn), as well as guest direction from Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill) for one sequence, to bring his comic book creation to life. Basically the film sees three interlinked stories set in the dark and miserable ultra- violent metropolis town of Basin City, nicknamed "Sin City", specifically characters embroiled in all forms of crime, from corrupt cops, dangerous criminals and femme fatales. Aging police officer John Hartigan (Bruce Willis) stops serial child killer Roark Junior (Nick Stahl) from raping and killing his fourth known victim, eleven year old Nancy Callahan (Saw's Makenzie Vega), the police have been bribed by Junior's father Senator Roark (Tombstone's Powers Boothe) to cover up his crimes. Hartigan's corrupt partner Bob (Michael Madsen) told him to walk away, but he refused, Hartigan catches up to Roark Junior in a warehouse, despite his bad heart, he does get shot in the shoulder but Hartigan shoots off Junior's ear, hand and genitals, after that Bob has recovered and shoots Hartigan in the back, but sirens are heard approaching and Nancy is safe and sound, for now. Marv (Mickey Rourke) has a one-night stand with Goldie (Jaime King), but waking up finds her dead, he flees to avoid framing and explains to his lesbian parole officer Lucille (Spy Kids' Carla Gugino) he will avenge her death, through informants he finds out the Roark family murdered her, he goes to the family farm, only to be subdued by silent stalker and Goldie's killer Kevin (Elijah Wood), he wakes up in a basement with Lucille. She explains the killer is a cannibal and that Goldie was a prostitute, corrupt cops kill Lucille, while Marv kills the cops, apart from the leader who reveals Cardinal Patrick Henry Roark (Rutger Hauer) arranged Goldie's murder in Sin City's red-light district Marv convinces Goldie's identical twin sister Wendy (Jaime King) he is not the killer, she and him return to the farm where Marv kills Kevin, after hearing the cardinal's confession that he and Kevin ate prostitutes to "consume their souls" he kills the cardinal, but in the end Marv is captured by the cops and executed in the electric chair. Shellie (Brittany Murphy) is harassed by her abusive ex-boyfriend Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro) and his cronies, her current boyfriend Dwight McCarthy (Clive Owen) violently warns him to leave her alone, and he follows the thugs to Old Town to find them harassing young prostitute Becky (Alexis Bledel), prostitute leader Gail (Rosario Dawson) also witnesses the scene, so martial arts expert Miho (Devon Aoki) kills Jackie Boy and the gang. But then they find out he is "hero cop" Detective Lieutenant Jack Rafferty, if the cops find out he has been killed the truce between them and the prostitutes will end and the mob could wage war, Dwight goes to the tar pits to dispose of the bodies, a hired mercenary almost gets hold of Jackie Boy's severed head until it is retrieved, but Gail is kidnapped by mob enforcer Manute (Michael Clarke Duncan) who forces her to betray the prostitutes, but Dwight trades them the head for Gail's life, only to have the head stuffed with explosives, and the mercenaries are gunned down by the prostitutes. Hartigan has recovered in hospital, but Junior is in a coma, Nancy promises to write to write anonymous letters to him while he is framed and put in prison, this continues for eight years, but the letters stop and he receives a severed finger, so he confesses to the given crimes and gets parole, he searched for and finds adult Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) working at Kadie's Bar as an exotic dancer. Hartigan realises however he was set up, the Yellow Bastard, who is actually Junior (Nick Stahl), deformed due to years of regenerative surgery, attacks and takes Nancy to the family farm, but Hartigan catches up, fakes a heart attack, and gets the chance to kill Junior, with Nancy safe he knows that Senator Roark will continue hunting them, so to ensure her safety Hartigan kills himself, justifying it as a "fair trade". Also starring Josh Hartnett as The Man, Marley Shelton as The Customer, Arie Verveen as Murphy, Frank Miller as Priest, Insomnia's Nicky Katt as Stuka, Tommy Flanagan as Brian and Rick Gomez as Klump. Willis is indeed poignant as the disgraced cop who will do anything to protect the girl, Owen is good as the tough private eye, Del Toro is suitably dark humoured, Alba is sexy as the victim dancer, but it is indeed Rourke who steals the show as the soft-hearted ex-con out to kill his sweetheart's killers. The film does have cheesy dialogue and one or two small repetitive moments, but with great chase and gun filled sequences, accompanied with high bloody violence, it doesn't matter, but what really makes this film really stand out is the sensational colour, like an authentic comic book, filmed in black and white it's the splashes of bright colours, especially in the violent and sexy scenes, overall it is a great neo-noir action thriller. Bruce Willis was number 35 on The 100 Greatest Movie Stars. Very good!