Comic book adaptation come good

Rating: 9/10 (10 June 2005)

POTENTIAL VERY MINOR SPOILERS The first real comic book adaptation I had the privilege of viewing was the original brilliantly campy Batman ... Adam West with his lawful haircut wore underpants over his tights, zapped, biffed and socked his way out of being boiled alive in giant teacups and treated Robin like he was a little kid. And it really was fantastic!!! Those pows and thwacks may have been a tad crude, but added to those trips up Gotham's skyline and the ridiculous sets and eccentric villains Batman made for an entertaining 25-odd minutes of loose comic book adaptation.
But this is 2005. We've seen varying degrees of success in region of adapting comics since 1966. The earlier Batman's set the bar too high for more recent efforts to reach (eagerly awaiting Batman Begins); Dick Tracy definitely showed some promise and the recent Spiderman's and X-Men (to a lesser extent) movies showed what could really be done by combining modern day technology with genuinely interesting story telling.
First off and most obviously Sin City's striking and innovative use of colour and technology sets it apart from most other films you are likely to have the pleasure to see. In an interview I heard Clive Owen (and he himself knowingly admitted it clichéd) that this is something that is totally new; and the man is right. This film noirish effort is filmed in black and white ... there are no grey areas ... the spilling of scarlet blood or the flash of blue eyes is the closest you'll get to the relief of colour. The scene in which Bruce Willis' character is about to close in on Roark Jr. and he is standing by a massive farm door, particularly struck me, in that it look as if a frame from the comic had been drawn into the film. Another interesting touch is the use of silhouette frames at key points in the film.
Sadly I myself haven't yet read any of Frank Miller's Sin City comics but the inclusion of the author as a co-director (as well as reports I've heard) suggests the film is particularly loyal to the original story lines. Tarantino manages to muscle his way into Miller's vision and is a 'special guest' director for one scene.
The performances of those occupying the corrupt hell hole that this Basin City are very solid to say the least. Mickey Rourke is particularly forcefully as 'psychokiller' Marv, while Alba and Willis stand strong in their story about a weathered cop stabbed in the back for protecting an innocent young girl. Elijah Wood gives an unnerving and totally silent performance as the demented Kevin, a young cannibal. The violence although totally over the top (this is a comic book after all where men can take up to 5 shots and survive) is unrelentingly brutal; scenes involves the male genitalia are very gruesome and had me wincing for a minute. The film itself aside from its obvious quite brilliant and striking presentation is an unrelenting testosterone rush from start to finish. It runs like a film noir with the main characters narrating as woman with near perfect features seem to either end up dead or in the arms of some vengeful do-gooder (or longing for those arms). This is surely reflected in the female cast; as big a fan as I am of Brittany Murphy the prospect of playing a scantily clothed stripper or soon to be dead hooker may not have appealed A-list actresses. I think I must have been joined by have the cinema when a slow sweeping shot of Alba borough an unwitting smile to my face! Sin City is definitely an innovative piece of work from the visual artistic perspective; add to this some quite gripping story lines and you've got something that sees the progress of comic book adaptation in cinema take another step forward.