Sin City

Rating: 8/10 (1 April 2005)

Sin City begins as though the viewer were watching Pulp Fiction: a scene of slick discussion between a man and a woman, ending in a twist. However, whereas Tarantino uses realism throughout Pulp, Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller use a fantastical world in which ridiculous events occur. The events are so ridiculous, in fact, that the viewer can not help but smile at it. In this regard, Sin City is a cross between Pulp Fiction and Spiderman. The characters are the low-lifes of Pulp Fiction, and yet the action and high-definition filming is that of Spiderman. The unique difference that makes Sin City different is the way that Rodriguez portrays the movie as if it were a comic book. The actors deliver their lines as though you were watching a B-rate movie from the 1950's, and the narration is like a crime movie, with a cop taking care of the situation. Some may not like the way that Rodriguez does this, but it is new to watch, as other comic book movies have not achieved as much as Sin City. Much of this is thanks to Miller, who wrote the graphic material not seen in a comic book movie like Spiderman or The Incredible Hulk. The dramatic way that Rodriguez brings a book to the screen is enough to keep the viewer paying attention throughout the movie, and therefore is not as boring as many critics suggest. Rodriguez's gift is that he takes a comic book and makes it a film noir that can even be mentioned in the same breath as Pulp Fiction, a movie many consider to be a textbook in film noir. All in all the movie is entertaining and interesting, not only for the way that Rodriguez intertwines the stories, but in the way that the actors portray their respective characters. The cast includes Clive Owen, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, Michael Madsen, Brittany Murphy, and Benicio Del Toro, among others.