Great on so many levels, yet if falls short

Rating: 6/10 (9 April 2005)

I am a huge fan of Miller's comics and really dislike Rodriguez's films. The hype surrounding this movie was huge and as of today the movie is in IMDb top 100. But at the same time, so are Kill Bill and Kill Bill 2, two movies that I disliked with passion. So I didn't really know what to expect from Sin City. Unfortunately I walked out of Sin City with mixed reviews.
First the good The attention to detail that went to transferring the comic book into movie is amazing. Backgrounds look exactly the same as they do in the comics, and to give the movie another dimension, many features, such as rain and scenes that show characters all white against black background, have comic book look to it. This movie take the technology introduced in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow to a whole new level. Mickey Rourke is amazing as tough-as-nail Marv. Perfectly cast, perfectly played out part. Elijah Wood creates perfect Kevin. I get the chills while reading the comic every time Kevin shows up. Movie is no different. Devon Aoki and Rosario Dawson do excellent job as well.
The bad So many actors are not suited for their roles. Bruce Willis does not suit almost 70 year old Hartigan. Clive Owen, Benicio Del Toro, Jessica Alba, Brittany Murphy, Joshua Hartnett all are playing parts not suited for them. The inner monologue that each character work brilliantly in the comic, but for some reason looks ridiculous in the movie. Each character thinks as if they are all read Wall Street Journal and watch private eye flicks from 40's. Sometimes the end result is simply laughable. The scene when Clive Owen is being pulled out from the lake by Devon Aoki is a perfect example of that. Finally, when characters do talk, it is always as if the words are being forced out of them, always ending with a big sigh.
Overall, I don't think the movie deserves to be in the top 250 of all time, let alone top 100. It is solid, but not great, and definitely not deserving all the hype it got so far.