Sin City (2005)

Sin City (R) - Review

"Family Values"

A city populated by criminals, victims, prostitutes and macho men.  A neo-noir slugfest of questionable morals exploding onto the screen in black and white (and red and yellow).

Brought to life from the pages of comic-book legend Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez (Planet Terror) directs the maniacs and femme-fatales into a whirlwind of bloody knuckles and smoking barrels.  Based mostly on The Hard Kill and That Yellow Bastard, the film is almost a panel for panel, shot for shot translation instead of adaptation.  The dedication to the look and feel works tremendously, especially with Mickey Rourke and Bruce Willis fleshing out the iconic roles of Marv and Hartigan.  Mickey's role is the linchpin as Marv, a pyscho with a hell of a jaw.  Rourke is perfect for the tremendous tough guy, and the prosthesis bring out his jawline and his brow wonderfully, much like Perlman's make up on Hellboy brought the character to true life.  Meanwhile Bruce is the prototypical sacrificial good cop Hartigan, chasing a demonic politically-protected pervert (one of the most unique villains ever put to paper and somehow brought to screen perfectly by actor Nick Stall and a lot of yellow tinting).  The rest of the cast supports them to a great degree, Elijah Wood playing against type as an unstoppable killer, Rosario Dawson as a S&M leather clad enforcer, Rutger Hauer as a sinful bishop, Benicio Del Toro as a dead sleezeball, the cast really is terrific.  Even Quentin Tarrantino got in on the fun, stepping in to direct a scene or two without breaking style.

A couple of duds should be mentioned however.  Sometimes the green screen limits the action and creates some awkward compositing, and not every member of the cast sparkles.  There can be a wish for more of an intercutting between the stories than the existing one-at-a-time framework.  Having to wait through the half-slog of Clive Owen's Dwight to see the conclusion of Hartigan is a bit of a drag, slipping through the series' true star Marv so early on is a bit of a let down.  As direct of a translation as it is most of the mysoginy and strange femme-power from the book makes it onscreen and won't be everyone's cup of teeth. Still, the rapid highs overshadow it's lows, and Sin City has no place for grey area.  Either you are all in or you are out, and damn the consequences.

8 Hatchet Noses out of 10 (GREAT)