Welcome back Rodriuez & Rourke!

Rating: 9/10 (7 May 2005)

The two things that shine out from this visually dazzling comic-strip adaptation is Robert Rodriguez absolute requirement to collaborate with someone else and the return of Mickey Rourke.
Much will be written here about the brilliance of the movie with its shimmering high-contrast black & white cinematography spattered with moments of vivid color, but my focus is on Rodriguez and Rourke. Ever since he blazed onto the screen with El Mariachi, Rodriguez has regularly disappointed with his one-man-show flicks. He writes, directs, shoots, edits, composes, makes the coffee etc., and most of his movies. The subsequent disaster was encompassed in Once Upon A Time In Mexico - a sacrilegious title in itself for the dross that it was.
It seems evident now that for all of Rodriguez individual brilliance, he needs a collaborator to fuse the magic together. And it is no coincidence that Sin City is a masterpiece of modern cinematic flair and narrative when Rodriguez allows himself to work closely with Creator Frank Miller and no doubt have best pal Quentin on hand to bounce and share ideas with. This is easily his best film so far, and his best since his other Quentin collaboration From Duisk Till Dawn.
With Mickey Rourke, we have the return of a hero. He was the man to replace Brando as the King. The fact that he self-destructed is an indictment on fame and Hollywood. But there is no question that Rourke was and remains one of the truly great talents. Had he died after his 1st 3 roles a la James Dean, he would be bigger and more revered than Dean himself.
Here, albeit with outlandish prosthetics to conceal his own, Rourke roars into the character Marv who vows to avenge the death of a hooker called Goldie, his scratchy whiskey-soaked voice narrating the scenes with a growling drawl that Willis, Del Toro, and especially the weak Clive Owen can only dream of.
The film is superb. And Rourke is back.