Artistic, Dark, a noir revival

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2009)

Sin City... based on the widely praised graphic novel series of the same title.
I think the very title of the film is a good indicator of whether somebody should watch it or not. "Sin City". You are going to witness sexuality and bloodshed in a way you've never seen before. The CGI backdrop of Basin City is cartoony and unrealistic - but that serves the purpose of the stylizing. Now, the greatest achievement is that Sin City provides the viewer a realistic level of interaction with these comic-book backdrops. The characters are hit and miss. The hits outnumber the misses tenfold, though.
Hits: Marv, Hartigan, Junior, Dwight, Shelley, Jackie Boy, Miho, The Irish assassins, Cardinal Roark (BIG ONE RIGHT HERE), Kevin, The Salesman, Becky, Bob, Marv's PO, Goldie & Her sister, and a few others. Frank Miller plays a dirty Catholic Priest Misses: Gail and a couple of the Old Town girls (Dallas notably). The lines seemed a bit forced. This doesn't knock my 10/10 back to a 9, though. I understand that while Rosario Dawson isn't the best actress to play a femme fatale like Gail, she's definitely cut out for the look. And if you know anything about Sin City... the 'look' is what sets it apart from other noirs. Jessica Alba was the right girl to play Nancy... It's just I don't appreciate her acting enough to count her as a hit. The little girl who played young Nancy was pretty spectacular (and adorable). I mean, it's difficult to place a newer actress like Jessica Alba alongside with industry veterans like Bruce Willis, Michael Madsen, Micky Rourke, etc. I'm not saying she's a bad actress. I'm just saying the other people involved are some of my favorite character actors/actresses and it created a huge contrast.
Anyways, I'm cutting this review off here.
The story is great, the lines are well delivered for the most part, and the artwork does justice to the graphic novels. You can watch this without being a fan of the books. If you like sex, violence, and good story-telling... do yourself a favor and go rent this.