S&M pulp fiction fantasy

Rating: Null/10 (24 March 2005)

Sin City: Style  A,; Story  D+ One-liner: Fully articulated S&M pulp fiction fantasy for the pubescent male
John Hartigan (Bruce Willis) is an aging cop on his last breath. He tries to save a ten year old girl from the sick perversions of a pedophilic murderer. Marv (Mickey Rourke) is a hulking thug out to seek revenge against those who killed Goldie, the hooker with a soul like an angel. Dwight (Clive Owen) is a vigilante boyfriend out prowling the streets protecting the hookers of Old Town from the likes of Jack Rafferty's (Benicio Del Toro) gang. All three stories intertwine around the seedy streets and characters that inhabit the graphic novel shadows of BaSIN CITY.
Frank Miller is one f***ed up guy. He loves all things misogynistic, cruel and kinky. Gruesome murders, torture, pedophilia, cannibalism, decapitations galore  nothing is too sick to escape inclusion in this rather simple and predictable plot. Miller found the perfect directors (Robert Rodriguez with Quentin Tarrintino doing some ?guest? directing) to show off his standard fare in amazing style. The light, shadow, and spot use of color was simply superb for the story and source material. Unfortunately the directors never thought to refine the script to provide a true hardboiled film noir where the double-crosses are a surprise and the dames are as savvy and smart as the men. Instead they indulge Miller's obsession with tough, ugly guys who seem to win the attentions of the perfect hookers. Miller doesn't have a Madonna/Whore problem writing women, he has a Whore/Whore problem. I've never seen so many thongs, black leather studded outfits, and gun-toting dominatrixes in a film outside the XXX district. Russ Meyers has nothing on these guys. For that reason alone I predict the film will be a huge success. It's a male erotic S&M film wrapped up in so much style that every computer geek and teenaged male will flock to theaters once they've put down their video game controller or logged off the internet porn.