Director Robert Rodriguez has finally hit his stride in both a directoral sense and a story-driven sense.  While I've certainly always enjoyed his films (my favorite being, of course, "From Dusk 'til Dawn"), there was something usually missing.  They were always really, really cool to look at, but (with the exception of "Dawn"), the story seemed to always be lacking.  With Frank Miller's graphic novel "Sin City," the director has finally come full circle.

Cut into three sort of interwining storylines (technically four) "Sin City" takes place in the corrupt town to end all corrupt towns.  There are no heroes in Sin City, only villians.  And some villians just happen to be a bit more heroic than others... but they're still pretty much villians.  The stories are as follows: "That Yellow Bastard," "The Hard Goodbye," and "The Big Fat Kill" (with a few references, through Josh Hartnett's character, to "The Customer Is Always Right" and "Babe Wore Red").  The three main stories can actually be summed up into different sub-genres: "Bastard" is straight up pulp, "Fat Kill" is classic film noir, and "Goodbye" is the hero story.

If it is not obvious yet, I am quite a fan of Miller's original work.  I was excited to find out that included with the film would be "Yellow Bastard" and "The Hard Goodbye," as they are both my favorite of the "Sin City" stories.  And while "Bastard" is my favorite book, it's "The Hard Goodbye" that is worth the nine dollars alone.  Featuring Mickey Rourke as the ultimate anti-hero badass Marv, "Goodbye" is not only the most funny and cool of the series, but also the most touching... despite the cannibalism (courtesy of Elijah Wood whom plays the extreme opposite of Frodo), prostitutes, decapitations, and scenes of torture.

In "Yellow Bastard," Bruce Willis plays Detective Hartigan, one of Sin City's last honest cops.  Mere hours away from retiring, the good cop decides to clear up some loose ends by bringing an end to the mayor's evil son, Junior (Nick Stahl), who happens to be a murderer and a pedophile.  Of course, it is only a minor victory as even though Junior is stopped, Hartigan takes the blame and to save the life of Junior's would-be last victim, 11 year-old Nancy Callahan, the detective goes to jail for crimes he had nothing to do with.  Eight years later, and Nancy is now the very hot Jessica Alba... and Hartigan, now released from prison, is duped into leading Junior (who, through extensive reconstructing surgery, is alive but also very ugly and very yellow) right to Callahan.  A very gory and over-the-top show off ends this one.

Finally, with "The Big Fat Kill," Clive Owen's Dwight character inadvertantly helps kill a cop, Officer Jack Rafferty, played by Benicio Del Toro.  Of course, Rafferty isn't one of the good villians... he's actually a very bad one.  Still, should the city learn of his murder by the hands of Dwight and the "Old Town Girls" (read: prostitutes), things will go horribly awry for all involved.  While not my favorite of the presented stories, "Kill" still contains enough gore and ninja assassins to keep anyone with a pulse entertained.  Not to mention a finale that contains a loyal army of prostitutes (twelve bucks to anyone who catches that reference).

All in all, "Sin City" is a good ride, though there are a few gripes.  For one, Brittany Murphy decided to really cheese her role up.  And while it is understandable why she might do so, some of her lines are almost painfully over-the-top.  Also, like "Sky Captain," this was filmed completely in front of green screens, which lends a bit of a out-of-this-world feel.  Sometimes, this really works for the film.  Other times, like when a character is opening a door that does not really exist, it looks a bit too out of place.

It should be made abundantly clear that this is not a movie for everyone.  It's a guy flick through and through.  So, I present a final score of ***1/2 stars.  But, if you're not a fan of the comics, you may want to shave the half a star off.  If you are a super fan, though, you may want to add half a star... plus 300 more.

***1/2 out of ****

One word describes it for me: "Wow"

4/4

I really have to see this now.

This is one of the best movies that I have ever seen.

I'm not at all aquainted with Miller's graphic novels, but I simply, hands-down loved it.  Marv is one of the most badass characters anyone's ever seen, and it's simply ridiculous that the audience should sympathize with a character who ruthlessly tortures many people during his story, but it works.  The Hard Goodbye was absolutely hilarious, and a joy to watch.

The Big Fat Kill featured a great performance by Clive Owen, which I was iffy on after watching a tenth of King Arthur.  I personally really enjoyed Brittany Murphy's performance - the 'African love fest' line may have been a bit over the top, but it's saved by Owen's expression in the background - and Miho is simply great.  The scene directed by Quentin fits in perfectly (for those unaware, this is the scene with Clive Owen and Benicio Del Toro in the car together), and you would never know that there was a different director behind the camera.

I found That Yellow Bastard to be very touching, even if Bruce didn't look as old as I imagine that Hartigan is supposed to look.  The whole story is very pulpy and ends in a moment of crowning violence that had the whole audience laughing/yelling/gasping in surprise and enjoyment (at the second showing anyway..I went to this twice and the first time there were only five people in the theater, counting myself and my two friends..second time was full though) at the sheer ridiculousness of it all.  Jessica Alba is a tiny bit distracting in this story due to the fact that she is absolutely stunning.  

Like Syco said, a guy flick.  Filled with female nudity and extreme violence, and somewhat lacking in strong female role models.  But for anyone who will take delight in watching two hours of sustained nudity and extreme graphic violence - well..I've already seen it twice.  

I'd give it ****/****.  

They packed it full of big actors, what could you honesty expect. Worst case scenario it would turn out very average and break even, best case it will out sell Titanic for the biggest box office grossing film of all time. Time will tell but Titantic is one of the worst long movies ever made and anyone who went to see it is gullable.

Shrek almost stole the title from Titanic, I have high hopes that someday a film will steal the number 1 box office grosser but it's hard to get people to go out to the theatreand not download it.

OH! You people are so fucking lucky. I envy that you saw this movie. Unfortunatley for UK/IRELAND we have to wait till' JUNE! AH!

I also forgot to mention Elijah Wood.  He was scary.  Some reviewer equated him to the cute-but-deadly bunny of The Holy Grail..I'd say that's about right.

That little smile on his face while he's tied to the tree is quite chilling.  

The moments with Kevin was the part that I feared would not be as creepy as it should be (I always thought that Crispin Glover was perfect for the role).  Luckily, Rodriguez (through Miller) really pulled it off.  Elijah Wood was perfect as Kevin and that stare was so fucking cool.

Well, I've seen it four times now.  It gets funnier every time.

Just found out that Frank Miller plays the priest.  That's cool.  He was quite good.  Clive Owen's performance gets better every time.  Michael Madsen's gets worse, surprisingly enough.  

Pretty good film, I liked how they did some certain parts in color and than brighten others to make you focus on them. I would have liked moreof Elijah Wood, that's a pretty sweet role and style that character has.

It started out a little boring but really picked up, no real character building but I guess what can you expect.

I'd give it a 3 out of 4.

Is the whole movie in Black and White?

For those of you who have seen it, does that asian girl, i think her name is
Devon aoki or sumthin, from 2fast2furious have a lot of screen time, because i think she is HOT!!

joey

No not of all this movie is black and white. Some things are colored like the Yellow Bastard character is completely in color.  Devon Aoki has a fair amount of screentime I'm not sure how many minutes though. They got some pretty cool action figures at this site

http://www.necaonline.com/

You can buy them at Spencers, Hot Topic, or Suncoast. I went and bought me Marv yesterday.  

She's got under 15 minutes but where she is in she was good.

Finally saw this, and I have to say:
- Samurai swords are nasty
- Elijah Wood can play a surprisingly convincing psycopath
- Clive Owen gets my vote to be the next Bond
- Irish mercenaries are funny and like explosions
- Never, NEVER mess with an army of hookers

I read a review of this in a paper a week or so ago, the reviewer (read: idiot) said this movie commited six deadly sins, of which four really annoyed me (and the other two I forget):

1. It was filmed in black and white.
Black and white is classic. How many great movies (and not-so-great-but-still-great, i.e. Ed Wood) are in black and white? He probably thinks Seven Samurai is a bad movie because it's black and white. That's his logic behind this.

2. The actors weren't allowed to interact.
He must not like anything animated then, as the actors don't interact there.

3. It was shot away from Hollywood.
Hollywood has been producing nothing but garbage these past five years. Maybe he doesn't like things to be produced away from Hollywood as then they're different and smart and require him to actually watch the movie instead of just spewing out a cliched review.

4. It had more than one director.
I didn't know how to respond this this one. This then rules out all books that are anthologies and nearly every TV show known to man.


This is an incredible movie, and shows just what can be done if you forget about those rediculous rules set in Hollywood and just go and make the bloody movie.

**** out of ****

Quoted from R.E._Freak - Never, NEVER mess with an army of hookers

Don't have to tell me twice.


Phil