Just like watching the comic book come to life!!

Rating: 9/10 (30 March 2006)

Brilliant, just brilliant!!!
I remember reading somewhere that there was no real script to speak of, just the original frames from the comic books. It shows.. and it is this which makes the movie such a wonderful experience. Think about it. 1. A comic book has only still pictures and therefore there are certain styles of drawing required in order to portray movement, depth, action, which by necessity must appear exaggerated. There were many such shots in this movie that copied these exaggerated styles into film and the effect was awesome (particularly when characters were running). 2. Also, in a comic book there is only so much space for speech bubbles, therefore dialogue must be brief, stinted and straight to the point. In the movie this was wonderfully recreated. Many scenes of dialogue comprised just one-liners going back and forth...perfectly recreating the comic book experience. I have read in some reviewers comments that they feel the acting was sometimes poor and put it down to the script - completely missing the point. 3. More subtly, have you ever noticed in comic books that static (often background)characters never stand straight, upright and facing the reader directly? This would never work. Always, characters are portrayed from unusual angles, striking exaggerated poses. In the movie you will see many examples of this, (note particularly some of the shots with the hookers standing around, and the car thieves when discussing their marks) I am certain that if you did not notice this, it will subtly have added to your enjoyment. 4. Finally, in a comic book you will never find scenes remaining in the same place for long. It is necessary for the comic to remain dynamic and exciting to keep the action moving. This is why almost all such genre comics have the following sequence (or similar); Location shot: Short dialogue: action: leave: fast car: new location shot: short dialogue: action: leave: fast car.....and so on. Watch the movie again to see what I mean.
All of the above (with a few less easy to explain) added enormously to a moving comic book experience and was all intentional I'm sure. As I said before, brilliant!!