It's just one of those films that you cannot call anything but cool

Rating: 9/10 (20 June 2006)

Frank Miller's Sin City is simply, the best comic book film ever made. For every film with characters based in comics, you always hear the critic commenting on whether the film was good or not, and you always hear the fanboys screaming out how the film completely ignores the comics mythos. For Sin City, both camps were raving. Robert Rodriguez, in his bold move of making Frank Miller his co-director, has helped to create a fantastically dark and sick looking film that feels more authentic than any other comic book film ever has.
The film mainly chronicles three of Frank Miller's stories (with tidbits of a fourth). The opening and closing story, "That Yellow Bastard", is about Hartigan (Bruce Willis), a hardnosed cop with a "bum ticker" (as he keeps mentioning), attempting to end the cycle of sexual depravity for Junior (Nick Stahl). The second takes off right after the opening of "Bastard", and is "The Hard Goodbye". It recalls Marv's (Mickey Rouke, behind layers and layers of face makeup) quest to find the killer(s) who set him up for the murder of Goldie (J'aime King), the one woman who treated him better than the monster he is. The final story, sandwiched in the middle of "Goodbye" and the ending of "Bastard", is "The Big Fat Kill". This story chronicles Dwight (Clive Owen) and his desire to ensure that a pack of thugs, including Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro, again, under heavy face makeup), do not harm any girls in Basin City (notice where the title comes from?).
Revealing any of the other elements of the story only ruins the film, as all of them tie together into one collective story.
Having read the comics after seeing the film, I can only stand even more amazed than I was after getting up in the theatre. Rodriguez, Miller and Co. have literally taken the images off the comic book pages, and put them to celluloid. Every bit of the dark and brooding atmosphere of the books, is here in the film. From the black and white with splashes of choice colour, to the provocative clothing, to the strong graphic violence, even down to getting actors who look distinctly like their characters in the books (including those with horrific makeup); it's all here, and it all feels distinctly authentic.
The story lines, no matter how darkly bizarre, brutally violent or how bleakly funny they become, all stay true to the comics. Every single actor breathes life into the words of Miller, and acts out their parts very well. When you look at the actor acting out their part, you cannot help but feel you are reading one of the books. It's that distinctive, and that much true to the books. Yes, there were a few changes in regards to the excessive nudity of the books, but the change was an obvious one that does not take away from the films at all. If anything, it only adds to weak areas of the books.
Even more amazing than anything however, is the visual effects. The entire film was filmed on a green-screen, with only a few sets actually built. The rest is fully computer generated, and was filmed in parts (with many of the actors sharing the screen, never meeting each other until later on). The way Rodriguez has helped capture the film, is a testament to what digital technology holds for us in the future. It's sharp and is clearly, the only way Miller's stories could have ever been justifiably shown in a film. Every character looks like they are on every set, and nothing looks fake at all.
For everything that is done right in the film, it still is not absolutely perfect. The pacing is a bit off in many of the scenes, and having "Yellow Bastard" bookend the three stories really was not a wise choice (as it is the most uninteresting, and is mainly filled with exposition). There's just something off in the editing, and it really takes away from the strength the rest of the film packs. It's a fantastic film, and the clear-cut best film of 2005. But I will be damned if I say that the editing and pacing does not feel right.
It may not be for everyone, but for anyone who can see it, Frank Miller's Sin City is just one of those films that you cannot call anything but cool. It's a masterpiece, and is a film that will be remembered for a long time, if not, as the pioneer of what digital photography can do for a film. It's fantastic, and is authentic. What more could a comic book fan ask for?
9.5/10.