No Saints In Sin City

Rating: 8/10 (16 April 2005)

"Sin City" is as faithful a rendition of the graphic novel series by Frank Miller as one could ask for. The movie is patterned directly after the comic itself. Frank Miller himself co-directed with Robert Rodriguez, and even has a cameo as a corrupt priest. The stories of the movie are set in Basin City, a dark and stormy town full of thugs, good cops and bad, righteous prostitutes, corrupt titans, and the dregs of humanity. It's all presented on screen in black and white with a few splashes of color here and there. The movie is loaded with violence, with blood flowing in four colors. And there are lots of unforgettable characters, such as Detective Hartigan (Bruce Willis), a hard-boiled cop out to protect innocent exotic dancer Nancy (Jessica Alba); Mickey Rourke as Marv, a plug-ugly anti-hero; Elijah Wood as a creepy cannibal; as Devon Aoki as Miho, a whoring assassin. The sight of characters being harmed in so many ways may be too harsh for some viewers. But the art direction is worth seeing, and its faithfulness to the original source material must be respected.