Unique and WAY OUT there!!

Rating: 7/10 (24 April 2005)

I knew NOTHING of Frank Miller, or his graphic novels but this film was packed full of Hollywood elite including one of my faves in Bruce Willis. If nothing else can be said about this film it's UNIQUE!! There is little to nothing else like it in it's style. It's perhaps one of the most intriguing comic book adaptations. It had it's shortcomings, in my opinion, but I found myself just glued to my seat completely captivated by it's look and style and even the over the top confusing story.
To describe the plot of Sin City would be more confusing than it's worth. Sin City is a collection of interwoven stories focusing on three main characters played by Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, and Mickey Rourke. The film basically aims to immerse you in Sin City's world, it doesn't attempt to bring you up to speed, or give you any background but literally drops you into the action and lives of these characters. Bruce Willis is a cop who thwarts a kidnapping committed by a senator's son and goes to prison for a crime that he didn't commit. Upon release he is determined to protect the girl that was kidnapped 11 years earlier. Mickey Rourke plays a messed up thug who's true loves dies in bed with him and he hell bent on vengeance for her murder and Clive Owen plays a ladies man photographer who, together with his lady friend, kills the cities finest and most corrupt cop and must cover it up to stop the gang war of all gang wars between Cops, Mob and the ladies.
Interwoven throughout these plots are other subplots that at times make no sense but they aren't meant to really. The first sign of confusion is the direction team...any time you have Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino together you've got one confusing mish mashed film. Fortunately for Sin City, it has the backing of an amazing cast, and drop dead amazing special effects and probably the support of Frank Miller to stop it from being say...Pulp Fiction (yes I hated Pulp Fiction, get over it.) The film is also brutally Tarantino violent although it's more artistic than gory being on the black and white backdrop. All three main stars are brilliant, dark, creepy, and watchable. Mickey Rourke is the shining point as the brooding, misunderstood hulk of a man Marv. He's mean, he's huge and yet you can't help but feel sympathetic for him. It's the best role I've ever seen Rourke in and he's barely recognizable as Marv. The downsides are indeed the mish mashed plot because there just isn't anything memorable about how it plays out. It's too confusing even with the upsides. Not all of us, probably a majority haven't read the graphic novels so we know nothing about it. The film leaves us wanting more back story which might be a nice play to turn this into a franchise but I felt like I wanted Sin City to be a TV Series so there was more immediately. Kudos to casting for bringing together some of Hollywood's biggest stars they all did well. I hope to see more of Sin City in the future so I can find out more of the intriguing back story.
7/10