When Co-director Robert Rodriguez saw Frank Miller's graphic novel, he knew that he must bring it to the big screen while maintaing the integrity and comic book feel of the original.
In order to do this, he not only offered up half of the directorial credits to the writer, but he gave up his membership in the Director's Guild when he was told by the union that two directors were not allowed to be on the same film unless they had been a team before entering the guild.
No matter what your personal opinion of the film is, you must give the two men credit as they kept their integrity and made a film exactly the way they wanted to. It wasn't chopped to pieces to get a PG-13 rating so it would have mass appeal, and they didn't let anyone else stop them from creating their vision.
What resulted from their collaboration is one of the most visually amazing films that has ever graced the silver screen. While shot primarily in black and white, the splashes of color at the appropriate time gives the overall feel of a graphic novel having come to life.
This easily could have been the best film of the year, except for one major problem. At times, the acting was atrocious. You could almost envision the cue cards that some of the actors were reading off.
It's hard to believe that some of Hollywood's elite actors could perform so poorly. The best reason for this must have something to do with acting in front of a green screen and not because of the comic book genre.
There have been great comic adaptations such as the Spider-Man films, yet the three biggest films to primarily use green screen, the two latest Star Wars Films and Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow, have made great actors look like talentless novices.
The film is broken into three different stories. The first is about Marv (Mickey Rourke), an ugly ex-con who after spending one night with a beautiful woman awakes to find her murdered in his bed and the cops knocking at the door.
Being overtaken by her kindness and the only night of passion in his life, Marv swears to find the killer and make him suffer. Little does he know that his quest will bring him face-to-face with a cannibal and the powerful Cardinal Rourke (Rutger Hauer).
The second Story is about Dwight (Clive Owen), a man on the run who chases after his girlfriend's abusive ex-boyfriend who ends up getting himself killed when he enters the part of town run by Gail (Rosario Dawson) and her gang of local hookers.
When they find out that the jerk they just killed is a cop, the women turn to Dwight and get him to take Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro)'s body to the tar pits. Jackie Boy was the one keeping the Mafia and the corrupt cops from invading their territory and treating them like slaves. If his body is found in their part of town it will be war.
With the help of a well-placed snitch, the Mafia isn't going to make Dwight's task easy.
The final story takes place over an eight-year period when a police detective, Hartigan (Bruce Willis) tracks down a murdering pedophile. This is not just any ordinary psychopath, but he is the son of Senator Rourk (Powers Boothe) who will do anything to stop his son from going to jail.
While Hartigan manages saving the girl, his own police department frames him as the perpatrator and he spends the next eight years in prison while the young girl writes to him every week.
When the letters stop coming Hartigan must find a way out of prison and signs the confession they've been pressuring him to sign.
Tracking the girl to a bar, he finds that little Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) is all grown up and working in a strip club. She immediately recognizes him and is grateful to see him. She had never stopped writing to him and they both find themselves being hunted by Rourk Jr (Nick Stahl) who plans on finishing the crime he attempted to commit eight years prior.
The film is quite dark and has some unexpected twists and turns. The good guys aren't nearly as good or squeaky clean as they are in a lot of films, but they all have a heroic nature to them.
There is a lot of violence as well, but it's not as gruesome as you might expect. Using the black and white film with tinges of color takes away the usual shock value, but is still captivating.
Even with its flaws, Sin City is a must see while it's still in the theatres. It's unknown how well the experience will transfer to television.
Expected on the DVD are some incredible special effects and a sixteen-minute short where Quentin Tarantino helped direct the scene between Dwight and a dead Jackie Boy. |
