Sin City is a famous comic strip created by Frank Miller. Robert Rodriguez had an ambitious idea: to transfer a comic into a movie preserving the comic genre visually and structurally. Visually, meaning that the movie picture reminds a spectator of a said comic strip. Structurally, meaning preserving the integrity, character and plot development of the same.

Now I must say that I am not a fan of comic genre in general and I have never seen Miller's cartoons before. I do not like films based on other famous cartoons like Batman and Spiderman. Yet, I was very impressed with this Sin City.

This film is different because unlike Batman and its ilk where they just translated the cartoon characters into a movie packed with the latest special effect but preserving the cardboard characters, Sin City managed to preserve the spirit of cartoon world visually. Actually characters there are more developed than in Batman. But the stunning visual style of the movie is what really sets it apart.

The film consists of several small novellas or subplots only loosely connected with each other. The one about Marv (Mickey Roorke) is my favourite. It's the story about love, revenge, passion and a host of other things. The story spirals with a vertigo speed with very sharp twists into an elaborate pattern. One might hold one's breath following Marv's adventure and the story does not relax till its end.

Another excellent story is about an honest cop (Bruce Willis) who was betrayed by his partner. It is also a complicated whirl, very interesting.

The film is done mainly in black and white tones with some bright colour spot like a red dress or blue eyes of one of the characters. The characters themselves retain sketchy form typical of cartoons. For example Marv looks almost like a monster with his squire head and jaw. The action is accompanied by character's voice-over that is quickly turns into dialogue when action calls for it.

The visual effects in this movie are amazing. The suspense and tension is excellent, the characters have more depth than you expect from cartoon characters and the total effect is very satisfying.

One word of warning: the film contains lots of violence in modified and cartoon style, which is a good thing. However, if you don't like violence in any form, you might not like this movie.

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