I don’t even know where to begin with this flick. I’m sitting here listening to the soundtrack and am just filled with the urge to go and see it for a third time. It’s one of those movies that you can’t get out of your head. The music sticks, the characters stick, the dialogue sticks, and most of all, the visuals stick. Being a huge fan of the comic books and having been following the production for a while now, I had an idea of what to expect. I knew that it was black and white; I knew the cast was impressive; I knew that Rodriquez was attempting to use the panels from the books as a sort of storyboard; and I knew that Frank Miller was co-helming. Regardless of all that, I was still knocked on my ass both times I saw it.
If you’re unfamiliar with the comics, that is fine. This movie will appeal to anyone who loves a good film noir, impressive visuals and cinematography, and good old violent revenge quests. This movie gets compared to Tarantino quite a bit, and I’d say it’s a fair comparison. The stylized violence is quite reminiscent of Kill Bill Vol. 1, but at the same time completely original. Rodriguez utilizes techniques such as white silhouette, white blood, strategic yellow blood, and of course some red blood on occasion in conjunction with the films stark black and white brilliantly. A note on the color use. What’s great here is the way the black and white of the comics is captured so wonderfully. Unlike the typical black and white films which are usually more of a gray and white, Sin City is truly black and white, an effect made possible through Rodriguez’s innovative uses of digital technology.
Also of note for the Tarantino fans is the structure of the film which follows the exact circular structure of Pulp Fiction. The film starts with a Sin City short story called “The Customer’s Always Right,” a story which is wrapped up at the end, much in the way the Tim Roth story bookends Pulp Fiction. Besides that, there are three stories: The Hard Goodbye, The Big Fat Kill, and the longest one That Yellow Bastard which is split in half to open and close the film (the short story aside).
The Hard Goodbye is probably my favorite of the three stories. It centers around Marv, brilliantly portrayed by a heavily made up Mickey Rourke, who sets out on a quest to find the murderer of the one girl who ever made him feel wanted. While it’s the simplest of the stories, Rourke does such a wonderful job of capturing the criminally insane yet sympathetic character that you can’t help but be captivated and on the edge of your seat. He somehow makes it seem ok and justifiable to decapitate torture numerous people. The villain here is played by a de-frodo-isized Elijah Wood who manages to pull off one of the creepiest villains I’ve ever seen, perfectly portraying Frank Miller’s vision.
Clive Owen (The Big Fat Kill) and Bruce Willis (That Yellow Bastard) do great jobs of capturing their characters as well. The internal narration of all three leads does an incredible job of nailing the noir feel, and allowing the audience to get a feel for their motivations for doing the various shocking things we see them do. In this way we come to understand why Dwight (Owen) embarks on his quest to right the wrongs he brought down upon a community of prostitutes, and we are shown the struggles Hartigan (Willis) faces in his efforts to save a young girl from being brutally raped and murdered after being framed for that very crime.
Do these stories sound somewhat over-the-top? Absolutely, but that’s what Sin City is. Everything is big, meaningful, and in your face. The violence is persistent and strong, but always in support of the story, whether it’s the impressive little Miho slicing off a man’s head with her swords or one of the leads coming to their final confrontations. If you can handle Kill Bill then you can handle this.
Going back to the visuals to finish this overlong review off, I must reiterate how masterfully Rodriguez handled this flick. This is truly the closest thing we have ever gotten to seeing film turned into a comic book, instead of the other way around. If you are a reader of the books, then Sin City will be on an even higher level for you as you will recognize shots taken panel for panel directly from Miller’s hand, from Willis’ jail cell to Marv’s final battle with Kevin (Wood). The transitions were extremely smooth as well, with Rodriguez getting insanely creative on occasion. One example springs to mind as we follow Dwight’s view all the way up to the roof top to a close-up of Miho, and the camera continues to move down along the roof and down the building until it rests on Benicio Del Toro’s character’s car in the alleyway all in one shot. Absolutely breathtaking to watch.
So, do you think I liked this movie? Let’s just say, as long as you’ve got a strong stomach then I highly recommend you at least give it a chance. It’s great fun, great storytelling, and if nothing else you’ll be witness to one of the most groundbreaking movies to come out in the past decade. Enjoy.
10/10 Awesomes
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