A Sin City review for your reading pleasure by me.

[shadowknows69]

Take one part cheesy, over the top detective comics and pulp novels. Add the essence of film noir and the master artist who reinvented it for the graphic novel. Mix in Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen and Bruce Willis doing their blessedly hammiest film noir anti-hero. Fold together with Elijah (He’s not a cute hobbit anymore) Wood, Benicio Del Toro, Nick Stahl and Michael Clarke Duncan doing the Bad-Der guy more evil than any previous stereotype on film and bake along with the amazing style and action directorial skills of Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino for a small part and apparently adept new director and creator Frank Miller and you get part of the recipe for Sin City. After all that, it’s still nearly impossible to categorize.

To get a little more subjective about it. I’m blown away. My mind is reeling. I may have seen a revolution in filmmaking. I may have only seen a faithful adaptation of a hard as nails, unapologetic, graphic novel (comic book to some of you) by comic industry icon Frank Miller. Whatever I’ve seen I know I’ve been to Basin City USA and even though I’m certain I wouldn’t want to live there It’s a damned interesting and frightening place to visit.

Sin City is played out in a series of three thinly connected main vignettes about such lovely subjects as revenge, murder, hooker gangland warfare (you can’t make this stuff up folks, well maybe you can.), sex, and cannibalism. The characters and dialogue are intentionally bigger than life and the violence extreme. Make no mistake this is a hardcore R splatter fest not for the faint of heart even though much of the bloodletting is done in a cartoonish manner with buckets of black and white blood splattered across the screen. The actors, apparently all filmed almost exclusively against a green screen, chew up the scenery that was added around them digitally at a later date and invoke every tough guy and dame character from the genre that you could think of.

The scores of superb performances in Sin City are absorbed but not lost by the sheer style of the film. I happen to be a long time fan and collector of comic books and very familiar with Frank Miller’s work although I had not read this series yet (I will now, I assure you) but the film is oozing with his style and writing. As a comic fan that’s what this movie played exactly like. It’s the printed panel come to life. People not familiar with the comic genre will simply be treated to an all out assault on the senses. Like the small space a comic artist has to tell his story Rodriguez and Miller have presented us with a movie that has no waste. Each scene tells its own tale and serves the film as a quick exacting segue into the next page…uh…err…scene.

I think Sin City could disappoint some who have misinterpreted the TV ads and the perhaps unfortunate reference to Quentin Tarantino as “Guest Director” thinking it may be Pulp Fiction Redux. If you’re a film noir or comic fan you should see this film. If not you should probably still see it for its sheer uniqueness in today’s linear, feel good, blockbuster driven movie business. I only hope there is not the nearly inevitable copycat films that may come out if Sin City performs well at the box office because they won’t be able to touch it. This one remade and broke the mold in two wonderful hours. -Scott McGregor

[liberalnurse]

1. I'm going to see this one

because Nick Stahl, the "Yellow Bastard" is simply fantastic in HBO Carnivale'....actually, I'm watching the replays of Carnivale this week in an HBO 3-Day Marathon......then off to see Sin City. :bounce:

[ret5hd]

3. which carnivale character does nick stahl play?

[liberalnurse]

5. Ben Hawkins....

He is a Creature of Light.......and lives in with the carnival.

http://www.hbo.com/carnivale/about/index.shtml

[alpizzy]

2. I was prepared to totally ignore this film....

but now I'm interested. Thanks!

[shadowknows69]

4. if nothing else it's visually stunning

as I said it plays out like a very loud comic book. Think Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy on methamphetamines. There's a lot of classic Tarantinoesque flashback and misdirection too so prepare to have a lsight headache trying to follow it sometimes but it's totally worth it. COMPLETELY NOT FOR KIDS THOUGH. It's pretty harsh.

[Mist]

6. Thanks, shadowknows! Wasn't too clear on what the movie's about,

so wans't sure if I wanted to see it. Your review makes me sure I DO want to see it, and soon!

[mopaul]

7. on your recommendation, and my son's, i'll probably go see it.

cause he was ravin' the other night after seeing it.

[loudestchick]

8. Is Mickey Roarke not AMAZING? ! ? ! I didn't get him til he spoke, wow!