Sin City is Sinfully Bad

Rating: 1/10 (31 March 2005)

Sin City is Sinfully Bad (SPOILERS!!)
The much anticipated action film Sin City ranks high on our top ten list, right up there with the likes of Rollerball, which, by the way, is one of the worst movies we have ever seen. Despite an all-star cast, including many who have starred in blockbuster films, bad direction and bad writing has rendered these actors' talents useless. That is not to say that the acting was poor, it was just overshadowed by the distracting elements.
Perhaps in an attempt to recall back to old Hollywood classics, the film is done in a style resembling film noir with the major difference being that some colors do appear in the film, notably crimson, which makes far too many appearances in this extremely bloody and graphic tale. The purposeless gore and violence has unrealistic results that fail to suspend the audience's belief. For example, when a human sustains a full force sledgehammer blow to the head, it usually does not result in a small smattering of blood, it results in major skull trauma and death. If someone's limbs are cut off and his intestines are being eaten by a dog, he does not tend to live very long. It is hard to be pulled into the reality of the story when what is happening on the screen defies logic. Sadistic mutilation of the male genital area had both men and women in the audience groaning, and if you really think you want to see this movie, you may feel more secure if you wear a cup to the theater.
The film is based upon a series of comic books by Frank Miller and includes stories from several of the books. On their own, each story might be decent, but the filmmakers have failed to unite the three separate yarns into a fluid sequence. The plot is choppy and sometimes confusing, leaving the audience feeling as if they have skipped a cell in a comic strip. The story opens and closes on the story featuring Bruce Willis in his typecast role as a cop with a heart, but the two entirely separate stories that take place in between make it hard to reorient ourselves at the end. There are also some loose ends that are not explained. For example, Josh Hartnett plays an assassin credited only as The Man, and appears in the first and last scenes of the movie. However, it is never explained who he is working for and how the woman he kills at the beginning is. Perhaps these loose ends are explained in the graphic novels, but they are lost on the theater audience and make the film seem sloppy.
The many characters are well developed and well portrayed by an ensemble cast including many familiar faces from and big and small screen, but if you want to see these actors exhibit their skills, see a different movie, do not bother sitting through this one. We believe that most fans of Elijah Wood prefer to see him in a more wholesome role than a mute cannibal who lives alone on a farm with his dog and eats prostitutes. As admirers of both Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba we still find that there is something deeply wrong about seeing the two make out.
Yet there are some redeeming factors. Clive Owen's character Dwight wears awesome red Converse that match his vintage ride. There are some funny lines amidst the clichés and fluff. The noir-inspired style is completely unique and could be wonderful if applied to a better written and better directed film. But even in the comic book movie genre this film is really awful, making X-Men and The Hulk look like best picture nominees.
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