Sinful Urban Comic-Strip Masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (16 August 2005)

To be honest I'm still reeling from seeing the first film for ages starring Mickey Rourke in which he hasn't sucked badly. Rourke is back, he's bad and he ain't beautiful. And in fact my other favourite Rourke film 'Rumblefish' shares some cinematographic similarities with Sin City, with it's black and white 'old movie' feel, vividly picked out with the occasional wash of primary colour.
However, Rourke's return to grace is a minor part of this film's triumph - the whole thing is utterly superb. From the script, to the dark, richly textured filming, to the excellent cameo performances from Clive Owen, Bruce Willis, Rutger Hauer, Michael Madsen and Benicio Del Toro. And that's not even mentioning the ladies. OK it's a comic book and it's a bit of a boy's fantasy, but hell Jessica Alba dancing in a cow-girl outfit is just something else - and there are similarly eye-catching performances from Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino and Alexis Bledel. The plots intertwine between seemingly unconnected stories and present us with a cast of characters from the twisted and depraved to the noble and virtuous.
And in keeping with the original Frank Miller comic-book it's super violent. I also can't help feeling that with Tarantino's 'Guest Director' slot this is everything 'Kill Bill' should have been, rather than the poorly edited, half-finished, rambling jumble of emperor's new-clothes that I felt actually ended up in the cinemas.
There are certainly similarities with the ultra-violent Manga segment of 'Kill Bill' and the whole tone of the film with be-headings, torture and comic-book heroic feats are certainly ever-present as you would expect with a Rodriguez and Tarantino joint-venture.
They clearly got it just right in this picture and I really recommend seeing this in a movie-theatre where the beauty of the cinematography can be fully appreciated - the 2 hours or so will literally fly by as you immerse yourself in Frank Miller's dark urban fantasy.