Cinematic Genius

Rating: 10/10 (5 May 2005)

Straight from the pages of the Frank Miller graphic novels comes Robert Rodriguez's best film to date, and possibly one of the greatest film events ever seen! Weaving three tales together (three and a bit if you include the opening segment), this is a throwback to classic film noir, but brought bang up to date with some of the most striking visuals of recent years. I had hopes for this film, but some worries. Being a fan of the comic book, could the film actually live up to the style of Miller's creations? The answer is a resounding "Yes!" as all the frames and characters come to buoyant life. The film doesn't just do the comic justice, it actually becomes the comic, and by doing so surpasses it, as we get to see the once 2D characters live on screen for us! A bit of background for those not in the know. Sin City was a series of short stories, and long tales, set in a fictional town called Basin City. Through it we were introduced to a variety of characters, none of them truly good (except, perhaps, Hartigan  played by Willis in the film), and plenty bad. From Marv, the disfigured ex-con who seeks the killer of a woman he loved, to Roark Jr, aka That Yellow Bastard (played by Stahl), their tales were interwoven, but never interfered with each other. The graphic novels were skillfully drawn in black and white, with the occasional hint of color (a red dress here, yellow skin there), paying homage to the old noir style which inspired them. The tales were the stuff of pulp novella, and the imagery striking. The film takes 3 of the tales and weaves them together, recreating the pages from the comic, and giving a film which many have compared to Pulp Fiction due to the disjointed-time story telling. However, that is an unfair comparison, Pulp Fiction was not this good! Robert Rodriguez has always delivered strong films on a low budget, from El Mariachi and Depserado (the latter cost $8million), to Faculty and Spy Kids. With Sin City he has taken $30million and made a film that looks like it cost $200million!! Frank Miller, the creator of the comics, joined him on set to direct  Rodriguez didn't want to adapt the storyhe wanted the film to BE the comic! Miller was reluctant to join  in the past his work has been trashed on screen, with his Robocop 2 script ending up a pale shadow of the original idea by the time it was filmed. Rodriguez managed to convince him that this would be different by bringing him in to witness a 'screentest'. That 'screentest' is the opening segment (featuring Josh Hartnett), and it blew Miller away! It wasn't only the reproduction of a short tale he wrote, it was visually perfect! In order to create the unique look the film has  that being a comic book on screen  Rodriguez turned to the technologies that helped him craft Spy Kids, and used a lot of green-screen. Much like how Sky Captain was made, with the cast being the only real things on display and all else being added later, Sin City was given the look by computers. You wouldn't tell really! The cars are all CGI, the chair, tables, bottles, toiletsall CGI, yet look more real than anything else! Visually the film is a masterpiece, the black and white working well to set the mood. The occasional flash of color ignites the screen, and highlights the focus at the time. The flips to negative are right out of the comic, the silhouetting of characters, and the unique coloration of the blood, all add to the wonderful style.
The film could have been all looks and no heart, but the performances on offer from some of the industry's greatest names lend more than character to the players. Bruce Willis, after a few years of stagnant roles, returns to splendid form, much in the way he did in Pulp Fiction. Mickey Roarke, behind the prosthetics, manages to get you caring for Marv, who, at heart, is a bit of a nutjob! Jessica Alba is delightfully delicious as Nancy, Del Toro is strangely understandable as Jackie Boythe list goes on and on! No one actor dominates the film, with everyone lending equal might to their roles. Stahl's evil Yellow Bastard is perfect, and as for Elijah Wood's role as the murderous nut, Kevin, all I can say iswow! No egos come out for the whole film, no one star tries to be the focus of the film. All of the cast seem to know that there is only one star here, Frank Miller! With such strong performances, outstanding cinematic beauty, and well woven story-telling aspects, it only needs a great soundtrack to make this film complete, and here is where Rodriguez shows his genius is complete, by scoring a fantastically atmospheric 'noir' kind of soundtrack! Inspired by the kind of music you hear in old Bogart movies, this is typical gangster/detective tunes, but given that Sin City feel.
For fans of the comic book, I cannot recommend this film to you enough. You will laugh, cry, and be in awe at your anti-heroes coming to life. For those without a clue as to the comic's existence, don't feel you will be alienated. No, this film can reach out to you all as it relies on one simple thinggreat stories! Who doesn't like them?