Well-made? Yes. Impressive? Yes. Great? No.

Rating: 5/10 (27 April 2005)

I am a comic collector, and while I never really liked Sin City (just not my sort of thing), I have read some of it, and know what it's like. In terms of the type of story, the type of characters and the type of storytelling, the movie is (and was supposed to be) pretty much *exactly* like the comic. Everything I didn't like about the comic, I didn't like about the movie, either. This is mainly the sadism parts, and the rather bleak view of humanity.
Still, I was impressed with the way the characters from the comic were fleshed out by such big-name actors (particularly Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson and Elijah Wood). Stylistically, it was an interesting exercise, and I also liked the fact that quite a lot happened. In most recent comics, nothing much happens per issue, due to the extremely annoying post-modern trend of "decompressed storytelling". But a lot happened here, and that was quite satisfying.
The city of hookers who protected themselves with all manners of weaponry (incl. a bloody ninja!) was very hard to take seriously in any way. It was quite ridiculous; if they had that kind of power, why be hookers in the first place? (I don't think it was a misogynist movie, though - I didn't see any proof of that. Perhaps a good deal of rather pathetic male chauvinist wishful thinking, but that's not misogyny.)
More generally speaking, I have to say I question the wisdom of attempting to do a movie which is so close to the comic as this one was supposed to be. Comics and movies are different media. This stark black&white style in a movie suggests a kind of stilted surrealism for its own sake, rather than the powerful and atmospheric messages conveyed by the art style in the comic. A voice-over in a movie just doesn't make it out for a text caption in a comic. Both the comic and the movie use the style to distance the reader/viewer from the starkness of the violence, but in the movie it is much more in-your-face because the story is live-action. Although this is in many ways an impressive movie, it was not one I particularly enjoyed, nor one that I particularly care to see again. But it was well-made and beautifully stylized; these things are undeniable.
My rating: 7 out of 10.