A not so brief review of Sin City:
SPOILERS
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Sin City. I love the comic books. Love, love, love the comics books. To be fair, I just recently reread *all* of the Sin City comics about two months ago, to get pumped for the film. So my viewing experience may be a little different from other peoples. Frank Miller is genius, and this, IMO, is his greatest work, even better than “Born Again”, “Dark Knight Returns” and his initial Daredevil work—and that’s saying something. “The Hard Goodbye” (Marv’s story) is usually pointed to as the best Sin City story, but “That Yellow Bastard” (Hartigans aka Bruce Willis’ story) is by far my favorite.
The movie—well, I’ll get right to it: this is my favorite movie in a long while. Like Kill Bill Part I, there are certain movies that just blow you away. That remind you that you love movies. This was one. I liked it so much after seeing it Saturday night, that I went back Sunday night and saw it again! I LOVED it.
On being true to the comic books—you will never, ever find another film that is as true to the source material again. Rodriguez bringing in Frank Miller as a co-director, the comics themselves being used as a story-board and the dialogue and shadowing matching it almost exactly…it’s that kind of understated respect that has made me a fan of Robert Rodriguez for life.
It had style. That is obvious to all…but, I mean, it had STYLE! The lighting and shadows, the music, which was slow and gradual and lingering in the backround before erupting into a frenzy, the whole noir homage…it was amazing. It is unlike any other movie I’ve ever seen. The style is impressive enough to win me over.
Some people may complain about the pacing, in that it mimics the comic book style of every issue having a small beginning and end and build-up to the final part of the issue, so that every ten minutes something more was happening. Personally, I thought it was really cool, and I liked how the pacing translated into the film. There was no rest for the wicked, and there was a continuous build-up and pay off every few minutes. Never catching your breath may have taken away from any big film-ending climax, but that’s not what Sin City is about…the end of the stories are the types of endings that *have* to happen, not huge be-all, end-all surprises.
And the clichés are on purpose and done so well, in such an excellent manner, that it just makes it so much more fun. Like Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs, the clichés are for us, the viewers, and IMO, they feel like a pay-off given to the fans as a gift.
The narration, which dominates the movie, may also not be for some people. For me, it was possibly the best part of the film. This is a noir-homage after all, and what better throw-back can you have than the slow grinding narration of the main character (four in this case). Bruce Willis’ narration is perfect and amazing—it sometimes shocks me at how damn charismatic Bruce Willis can be. His voice, the tone and the pure honesty and belief in what the character is doing perfectly conveys the character of Hartigan…you really believe he is the most noble man in Sin City and maybe in comics ever. Clive Owen as Dwight is beyond perfect. His narration is the absolute best in the movie, and I felt utter chills down my spine when I heard him say “Jackie Boy…you sonuva bitch” and “Deadly Little Miho”. The originality of the series is truly conveyed through the narration.
The acting….ah, the acting. There are some parts in the movie, where you might think “what the hell? How can acting that bad be on screen?” Well, I’m positive, 100% positive, that these people know their craft and the two directors knew what they were doing. That ‘bad acting’ in parts is most definitely on purpose. It’s really Britney Murphy and Jaime King who it shines through on, and most of all, it’s Michael Masden’s brief role that you really see it—but these are the clichés and the homages that we’ve been waiting for. No way Masden is that bad. He’s purposely saying “Hartigan, you’ve gotta bum-ticker. Think about Ilene. What’s she gonna say?” in a way that is so cliché, so over the top, that it’s Bruce Willis’s reaction to this conventional noir segment that is important. It was most definitely done on purpose, so when Britney Murphy is leaning out the window screaming “You damn fool!”, she was probably having the time of her life.
A few general comments on specific actors ( I won’t do them all though, as this post is already pretty long
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Bruce Willis- I don’t know what to say, other than I love watching him on screen. This might be the best role of his career. He comes through so honest, so powerful and so heroic, that it blows me away. Hartigan is my favorite of all the Sin City characters, and only Bruce Willis could have pulled it off. The retiring cop, giving everything away to save a little girl...it works so well with him, its scary.
[MAJOR SPOILER FOR A QUICK SECOND]—his end is the most tragic and most heroic of them all for me. “An old man dies, so a little girl lives…a fair trade. I love you Nancy.” I can’t begin to describe why it means the most to me, but Hartigan and Nancy’s love story is my favorite of them all.
Jessica Alba- Jessica Alba is unbelievably hot. But she’s also excellent in this film and is too damn likable for words. She’s perfect as Nancy, and the scene with her leaping off the stage when she sees Hartigan again, her hero, for the first time in eight years is one I’ve been waiting for since I first read it.
Mikey Rourke- this is probably the best and most important role of Mickey Rourke’s career. And its his best work IMO. He IS Marv. His pure, merciless, unabashed lust for revenge and violence is terrifying, if he wasn’t so lovable and tragic. The empathy you feel for the character lets you forgive all his flaws, and you can’t help but get caught up in the revenge that he seeks.
Elijiah Wood- I think this is the perfect career move for him. Kevin, the cannibal, the scariest person in the film by far. After LOTR, this was exactly what he should be doing, showing how versatile he is. And the part where you see Kevin again in Hartigan’s story (which takes place two years before), literally made the audience jump and shudder in discomfort both times I saw the movie).
Carla Gugino- By the bristling beard of Odin, who knew that she was such a drop-dead knock out. She is the most attractive woman in the film, and that’s saying something with this cast! Beautiful and smart are the two ways to best describe her.
Rosario Dawson- I think of all the women, she was the best one in the movie. I’m a bit unfamiliar with her work, but she was excellent. She portrayed Gail perfectly: sexy and lust-worthy, but a fighter and a leader. She was truly the valkrye Miller imagined her to be.
Clive Owen- I’m still blown away by how good he was. Just excellent, absolutely excellent. He also became his character…he IS Dwight. The conflict he feels inside his head comes through, mixing perfectly with the calm, cool exterior he has. A total badass, fearless and unshakeable, but also noble, witty and calculatingly smart. Dwight’s relationship with the ladies of Old Town has always been one that has captivated me, as he is the only male they’ve ever allowed to have such an intense comraderie with them. I’d love to see “Family Values” on film, even though it’s a weaker Sin City arc, just to see Dwight and Miho do their thing for twenty minutes.
Devon Aiki as Miho- as she should be.
Alexis Bledel- who plays the young girl from Gilmore Girls, but plays Becky, the young hooker from Old town here. Like Elijiah Wood, I think this is a great career move and she shines all movie. She really is beautiful too, and she looks both classically pretty and seductive at the same time. You also really get a feel for her character’s conflicts and her motivations for her actions, which comes across largely because of the young actresses talent.
Powers Boothe- even though he had a two minute role as Senator Rourke, he was perfect. As vicious and arrogant as he should be.
I actually could talk about this for days on end, so I’ll stop here. There was just so much good, that I’m blinded by it. There will be people who do not like this film, and its obvious the directors knew this and could give a crap less. I loved it. I can’t wait to see it again.
Discuss away, I can’t wait to say more
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