Black and white, with selective color, a great looking movie.

Rating: Null/10 (29 August 2005)

"Sin City" is the latest movie where a comic book comes alive. In the hands of Rodriguez the result is spectacular. Many will be turned off by the story and the extreme amount of violence, even though as viewers we know it is "pretend" violence, the kind you see in comic books where a bullet-riddled man continues to live, or a single gunshot removes an ear or a hand. But being able to watch through that rewards one with the images and "filming" style used here. (No film was actually used, digital images were.)
The movie is mostly in black and white, but in the opening scene we see a beautiful girl in a bright red dress, and with very red lips. Throughout the movie, there are very select images in color. A red car, a woman's very blue eyes, alternating blue, red, green shades of light on the face of a driver. And, of course, the very yellow man. It all works very well. Filmed in and around Austin, Texas where Rodriguez lives, much of the action was shot in green rooms with digital background added in post production. In a style very similar to "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow."
The movie has an all-star cast, but some of the more memorable -- Benicio Del Toro as the bad guy, Jackie Boy, Carla Gugino as the beautiful parole officer Lucille, Mickey Rourke in heavy makeup as Marv, looking for his girl's killer, and Bruce Willis as Hartigan, the retiring cop with a bad ticker, out to find and protect Nancy, played as an adult by Jessica Alba.