Brutal noir

Rating: 9/10 (14 May 2005)

I've never actually read the comic book by Frank Miller (although i'm a big fan of his Bat Man comic). I've only studied the wonderful use of black/white aesthetic. That was the first thing that struck me after watching 5 minutes of Sin City: The aesthetic of this movie is absolutely stunning, stunning, stunning! Using the tradition of German expressionism and Film Noir, and combining it with CGI, the team has created an fantastic dark and gloomy world, which is hard to compare with anything seen on the screen. Every second I was watching and enjoying the war between light and shadows, which created a great tension. But what about the narrative and the plot? Sure it looks great, but does the story live up to it? Sin City tells a very alternative story of morality, obsession and most of all murder. It feels very fragmented, and it's hard to keep track of the story. But is it bad? No! This is the kind of movie which rethinks the way in which narrative is told. The dialog and the bits and pieces of story seems more important than the overall plot. It's new. It's weird. It's very un- mainstream. But at the end it works great. The wide mainstream audience are likely to leave the cinema during this movie (if not because of the weird storytelling, then at least because of the extreme violence). However Sin City is a shocking fresh breath. This is the kind of movie which really push the barriers. Some people will love. Others will love to hate it.