Hyper violence kills stylistic achievements

Rating: 2/10 (10 May 2005)

Sin City is a nauseatingly unpleasant place to visit.
On the good side, it's got an incredible visual style. Director Robert Rodriguez outdoes the wild visuals and CGI advancements of his Spy Kids series.
But the problem is the film is probably the most disgustingly violent major movie ever released. It's just drenched in non-stop gore, dismemberment, torture, misogyny, castration, evisceration, cannibalism, children about to be raped and murdered, people dismembering other people then feeding them to animals while they're still alive, etc. NC-17, where are you?
But the worst thing is there's just no point, other than perhaps Rodriguez had some extreme misanthropic anger to vent, exacerbated by making the tame, PG-rated Spy Kids movies. And this movie is his humanity-filled punching bag, which he beats to a bloody pulp with the consistency of stewed tomatoes.
Is it a well-made movie? Sure. But why would anyone want to watch it? It's about as uplifting as watching a web cam of a Tyson poultry slaughter house, or animals being incinerated at your local humane society. Sin City is one place I wouldn't visit.