Fantastic, absolutely fantastic

Rating: 10/10 (6 August 2005)

Before I saw the first trailers that had leaked out on the net, I didn't know about the Sin City graphic novels at all. But, simply by watching that trailer, my expectations became very high right away. I sometimes watched the trailer for fun, simply because it was so good, and promised so much. The other trailers that were official, promised even more. I've never waited so much for a movie since I waited for Kill Bill.
Did it keep its promise? It did, and more. The visual style was absolutely fantastic, with the movie being completely in black and white with splashes of colour here and there, such as a red dress, the flashing lights of the police cars or Bledel's blue eyes. The story lines were simple and straightforward. Some have called the movie shallow, and I suppose it was, but for some reason this is not bad in any way.
We're sent into Sin City for two hours and we get to see a different world, a world real and unreal... and it feels good! It's easy getting sucked into this strange parallel universe, where you can find anything. It's dark and exciting. It's a place where the men are raw and hard characters, and the women are cool and always beautiful. It's decades ago and it's today.
The acting was good. I didn't expect anything else with such an impressive list of excellent actors/actresses. Here are some of them, and what I thought about them: Jessica Alba is Nancy Callahan, a stripper at the Kadie's bar. Alba is doing a pretty good job, actually. Just about good enough for this role, but not any more than that, in my opinion.
Devon Aoki is Miho, one of the girls of Old Town. I don't think she says anything at all in the movie. Hard to say much about the acting, but it looked like she did her job.
Alexis Bledel is Becky, one of the youngest of the Old Town prostitutes. I have to admit I was curious to see Bledel in such a movie, after seeing her as Rory in Gilmore Girls. Except for a few weak moments here and there, she did a great job on the whole.
Rosario Dawson is Gail, one of the de facto leader figures of Old Town. I love the way Dawson did this character. Gotta love her mischievous smile.
Benicio Del Toro is Jackie Boy, a no good cop. del Toro must be some sort of acting genius. He is one of the outstanding actors in this movie, he is really, *really* good as Jackie Boy, even when Jackie is supposed to be dead.
Rutger Hauer is Cardinal Roark. Another small role in this movie. Even so, he's doing a great job.
Jaime King is Goldie/Wendy, twin sisters and prostitutes of Old Town. This is, as far as I remember (and I'm very sure) the first time I get to see her work. I think that her sensuality is created where her hotness and cool intersect.
Brittany Murphy is Shellie, a bar maid at Kadie's. Here is another one who does her job incredibly well. For a while we have Murphy and del Toro in the same scenes; a real treat. Murphy's facial expressions, gesturing, the way she delivers her lines - just sit back and enjoy. Ace performance by Murphy.
Mickey Rourke is Marv. Great character who beats his way through Sin City with fury and humour in order to find vengeance on whoever murdered Goldie. Rourke does it well.
Nick Stahl is Roark Jr./Yellow Bastard. A pedophile who is after Nancy, and after Hartigan saves her, he attempts to kill him. I'm not familiar with Stahl's previous works, I believe, but he certainly seems to play this part well.
Bruce Willis is Hartigan, a good cop. I recently saw Die Hard, and remembering Armageddon I have to say he doesn't seem to have a terribly wide range as an actor, but then again his roles usually doesn't seem to give much room either. For such parts, including the one as Hartigan, he's a good choice.
Elijah Wood is Kevin, one of the more terrifying characters. No lines for Wood, and it's not much he needs to do, I guess, except staring without expression, or trying to fight Marv.
It may sound like I'm raving about all the actors, but I hope it's also clear that in some cases I can't say much about the acting, and that in some cases it's great, sometimes good and sometimes weak.
Anyway, I loved this movie. Unfortunately it was pulled from the big screen in my city after only a month, and by that time I've seen it only four times. I'll just need to get the DVD...
This is an easy 10/10.