Laughably Bad, but Perfect Comic Adaptation

Rating: 1/10 (10 April 2005)

This is a perfect adaptation of several of Frank Miller's Sin City stories. Filmed to look exactly precisely like the panels of the comic book where everything is BLACK or WHITE except for the occasional red, blue, or yellow, exactly like in the comic. The dialog is lifted word for word from the comic and sold in noir-ish tones we associate with the genre.
After five minutes you quickly realize that its all visual form over substance, and that there is little behind the trick of exact duplication.
The narration, like much of the narration in the pulp novels its paying homage to, is purple and laughable when spoken out loud. The dialog is equally ludicrous. None of it even remotely real. I was in fits of uncontrolled laughter as the "serious" lines of prose were spewed out over mostly unremarkable images.I know there is a tinge of humor to the source but on screen it comes off as something to laugh AT not with.
Yes, it all matches the comic exactly, but to what end? What is the purpose of this exactitude? Wouldn't it have been better to simply film the panels and have the actors speak the lines? Its all little more than a live action Clutch Cargo since there is no life on screen in what is little more than posed actors recreating the static shots of the comic. This is a ground breaking visual style?
Many people in discussing the film have mentioned the violence and how "if it had been in color" it would have been unbearable. I think it would have looked equally silly. Actually most of this movie would have looked very silly and dumb in color.
The performances, especially Mickey Rourke as Marv (Oscar nom?)are excellent, but they are saddled with such unreal material that their earnestness comes off making it all look even more ridiculous.
This is simply one of the most over-hyped films in many years. Its a live action comic book for people who've forgotten how to read.