Over the top; Visually stunning

Rating: 7/10 (12 April 2005)

I went into Sin City with high expectations, mostly because of the opinions of friends and watching trailers more so than any experience I have reading Frank Miller's work.
From the time the opening line plays and the first images show up on the screen, it becomes clear exactly what sort of movie it is: totally over the top, gloriously cliché, and unapologetically violent. Obviously this is something that leaves the film open to criticism from many people - probably justifiable criticism.
I truly enjoyed it, though - exactly because it is so over the top, cliché, and violent, and boldly so. The characters are generally one dimensional, and they are SUPPOSED to be one dimensional: they are caricatures more so than real people. This, added to the striking visuals, make it an enjoyable movie.
Micky Rourke's portrayal of Marv is excellent as an unapologetic, yet somehow redeemingly human, psychopath. The character, to me, came off as the most comic-esquire, from the greatly exaggerated facial features to his blithe one-liners. Also something which seemed to be lacking from some of the other roles, whether because of the portrayal of them or the essential nature of the character, Marv had a seemingly greater self-awareness than any other character in the film - making it a classic portrayal.
Dwight, played by Clive Owen, seems a little out of place to me - perhaps because his past is never explained, he comes off as a somehow hollow character, not entirely fleshed out, as the ignorant viewer (i.e., me) is unaware of his real motivations or capabilities. Dwight also comes off as the most misogynistic character in the movie - because of his attempts to help or defend women which really don't need any knight in shining armor. In contrast, Marv's crusade for revenge is far more human, in that Goldie - and then Wendy - "ask," (in a sense) for his help, and similarly so for Hardigan. Because of these features, Dwight comes across as far less interesting (and his "crusade," less noble or justifiable) than Marv or Hardigan - this is not to say it's a bad character, or a bad job by Clive Owen, but more to say that it did not live up to expectations established by the previous story featuring Marv.
Bruce Willis as Hardigan portrays a character that is all-too overdone in Hollywood cinema, a hero who does the right thing no matter the cost. Redeeming the performance, however, is that Willis seems to fit perfectly into the voice-over, film noir style of Sin City. Overall, the only hard time I had with Hardigan's story (That Yellow Bastard) is that Bruce Willis looks far too young for the role, making the character less believable when his age is mentioned.
Of the other characters, I don't really have much to say either in the way of negative or positive: few stood out, and those that didn't served as a palatable backdrop for the others. Elijah Wood is skin-crawlingly creepy as a silent cannibal (all the more creepy because of his silence, even when being hacked up by Marv). Devon Aoki expands on the theme of silently deadly, again something I mention because in the case of both Miho and Kevin, more is expressed about the character by their silence than by any lines they could have possibly been given. Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro) is a solid, real-world sort of creepy character.
I only have a few hard spots with the movie... one being the previously mentioned problem with Bruce Willis portraying a man supposedly well over 60 by the end of the movie (particularly since he doesn't age at all between his first appearance and the end of his story, though many years pass). The other is the extreme physical portrayal of the Yellow Bastard: I understand why the character is portrayed as so ugly, but it comes off as too alien-like on film, to the point that it takes you (or at least it did me) out of the story a bit. This is something that, without having read the comic books (graphic novels, if that's what you wish to call them), I'd guess played very well in ink and paper, but simply didn't work as well on-screen.
Overall, I truly enjoyed Sin City for it's extreme, unreal - yet at times intensely human and realistic (I'm aware that's contradictory, but I can't find a better way to describe it) - setting and characters. The cinematography is some of the best I've ever seen, and certainly the best atypical cinematography to come out of Hollywood in recent years. The use of black and white, with only touches of color, adds a vibrancy to certain things which you are obviously intended to notice: the color forces your attention onto a specific object or event to the point of being totally focused on it. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, or similar movies. It's a visual treat and an immersive escape into a fantasy world with only a few flaws... and being realistic, every movie has any number of flaws, it's simply whether or not these flaws ruin the immersion of the viewer in the movie, which those in Sin City do not.