One of the Year's Ten Best

Rating: 10/10 (22 March 2006)

I always said that when it comes to a live concert you always know it's good when it appears like the band is having more fun than the audience. Well, in the case of Frank Miller's "Sin City" it appears as though Miller and veteran filmmaker Robert Rodriguez had more fun making this film than we do watching it.
The film is compiled nearly panel for panel, word for word from Miller's groundbreaking series of graphic novels. This is obviously a labor of love and it is so evident to the viewer while taking it all in.
There is no screen writing credit because they worked directly from the comics and Rodriguez was kicked out of the Director's Guild of America when he insisted that Miller get co-credit for directing the film. After all, he set up all the shots years earlier when he created the comic, both drawing and writing it from scratch.
This film had me on the edge of my seat from the intro to the end keeping my eyes wide open, causing them to dry up a bit because I couldn't manage to keep my peepers off the beautifully glorious black and white opera of violence that unfolded before me.
The film is three different stories, all taking place in Basin City. The sign entering the town has the BA in BASIN spray painted out, hence SIN CITY. The stories involve crooked senators and priests, cannibalistic serial killers, pedophiles, murderers, strippers and more. Surprisingly it all fits together rather well. Though the violence may be a bit much for some I found it to be justified right and proper. After all, this film is based on a disturbing series of graphic novels that never tried to dull itself down, but instead embraced its characters and respected the intelligence and taste of its readers.
The cast is absolutely perfect from the amazingly beautiful Jessica Alba as stripper Nancy Callahan, to Bruce Willis as the over-the-hill with a bum-ticker Cop, John Hartigan, to Mickey Rourke as Marv, the revenge filled monster out for blood. I believe that this is Rourke's finest performance as an actor and I would probably award him as the Best Supporting Actor of the Year. Although Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain), George Clooney (Syriana), Ed Harris (A History of Violence), and Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man) were all excellent, I don't think they carried their respective films the way Rourke did here. Let's also not forget Rutger Hauer and Clive Owen throwing in some head turning roles in this comic-book movie masterpiece.
All in all, a brilliant Tour-De-Force from journeyman Robert Rodriguez who did everything from Visual Effects Superviser, to editing, to cinematography, to sound re-recording mixer, to co-directing of course. A definite 10 out of 10 and one of the best films all year.