An incredible feat in film-making

Rating: 10/10 (21 August 2005)

"Sin City" is, without question, one of the finest achievements in cinematic art in recent times. It stays completely faithful to the original graphic novels without sacrificing cinematic effect. In an era when "comic-book flicks" are becoming the big summer movie blockbusters and it seems all one must do is make the film and it rakes in the cash, we have a movie that's impact is deeper than great special effects and the Good v.s. Evil archetype.
Granted, said special effects are amazingly effective. Though grand and exaggerated, it feels real. At no point do you find yourself saying "Okay, that's just too much, there is no way that happens". After watching overly-elaborate light saber duels in "Revenge of the Sith" and lackluster action sequences from "Fantastic Four", the simple yet brilliant action sequences in "Sin City" are very refreshing.
And the characters, my god. Though the narrative is strikingly eloquent throughout, each character uses it differently. For instance, Marv (Played BRILLIANTLY by Mickey Rourke) uses the narrative in such a way it makes you forget that your are watching a sadistic slayer of men who seems to value human life no more than a piece of garbage rather than the brooding, good-hearted giant you find yourself rooting for, in essence, Marv is everything the dark parts of us wish we could be. In contrast, Clive Owen's Dwight uses the narrative to paint a brilliant picture of the under workings of of the dark parts of the world. You feel every insane, high tension spark that Dwight feels.
The criticisms one hears of "Sin City" are mostly the same you would hear about "Pulp Fiction" or any other Tarentino film, namely abrasive violence and monotonous characters, to which I would reply with a firm: WHAT?! Granted, I will not deny that Sin City is a violent film. It is a very violent film, but the stylistic manner in which most of it is portrayed, one only flinches at the more horribly violent ideas and the truly gory portions of the film are few and far between. Indeed, Sin City is victimized by the same hysteria that labeled "Pulp Fiction" and "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" as terribly violent and gory films, despite minimal blood and on-scene mutilation. Much of the gore is implied, though the violence is on full display. In the case of the "character monotony", I would argue that this is film about "seedy" characters, and as such, we characterize all of them as the same. Between Marv's Confused Psycho, Dwight's Collected Murdering Meddler, and Hartigan's Straight Arrow Cop who understands that in that city, the straight and narrow path often leads to failure, we see a collage of dark characters who are most different in where they are similar: They all see violence as necessary, but each of them uses it from a different perspective.
In the end, "Sin City" will have its fans and its detractors, as do many of the Quote-unquote "Cult" hits such as "Resevoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction", but one cannot deny that "Sin City" uses the lack of restraint of violence only to paint a greater picture with the beautiful narrative, stunning imagery, and beautiful noir atmosphere that makes "Sin City" stand out among the great cult films of our time.
Walk down the right back alley in Sin City, and you can find anything...