Sorry I haven't posted in the last few days. I've been really busy, then sick. Being sick is lame. Very lame. Anyway, saw Sin City on Friday night. Here's the review, which I intended to post a lot earlier.How do you review a film that you know has instantly jumped into your top 10 films ever? It's tough to do, probably why I've been sitting on this review since Friday night, not having found the words to describe it. It doesn't help that all of my movie reviews thus far have been either zero-star or four-star reviews, with nothing in-between. What can I say? Mediocrity doesn't push me to write, I guess. Needless to say, this one will be a four-star review.
Sin City may not be everybody's cup of tea, but for those with the stomach, this movie is an instant classic.
Most people will describe this film as very "Tarantino-esque." It's equal parts
Kill Bill, with the over-the-top violence, and equal parts
Pulp Fiction, with three interconnected (but separate) stories and charismatic criminals as our main characters. It doesn't help that Tarantino filmed a segment (the car ride with Jackie-Boy and Dwight) as "guest director." He'll get a lot of credit for something that was originally written long before he became famous, and while his scene is well done, the rest of the film has such a life of its own that Robert Rodriguez won't get half the credit he deserves for creating this, since most will assume it's Tarantino's doing. It was a gutsy move by Rodriguez to resign from the directors' guild in order to have Frank Miller on as a co-director, but it demonstrates his dedication to getting the source material right and to Miller, who really earns the credit given to him.
In reading the comics and watching the film, it's easy to see which shots are identical to what first appeared on the page over a decade ago. It's also amazing how every character (save for one) hits the exact note and tone that was in my mind when reading these stories originally. That's got to be the main thing that Miller brought to the table. Bruce Willis isn't on the screen, it's Hartigan. It's not Clive Owen up there, it's Dwight. Everyone disappears so fully into these characters that you don't even think of them as actors in a movie. They inhabit these characters so fully that you can't help but be mesmerized by them. My only complaint casting-wise would be that Michael Madsen's delivery of Bob's lines early in the movie are a little too over-the-top and stilted to fit properly with what everyone else is doing. Luckily his appearance later on is much more in line with the rest of the cast. It's unfortunate that those botched lines show up in the first ten minutes, which really worried me. Soon enough though, Marv (a truly amazing Mickey Rourke) is on screen and any worries I may have had are erased almost immediately.
I must make a special mention of Mickey Rourke here. The guy's become a joke since the '80s, and it's really a shame. One would hope that this movie does for him what
Pulp Fiction did for John Travolta in the mid-'90s. He's absolutely perfect as Marv. Granted, he's given the meatiest storyline of the three main characters, but it still could have been a disaster with the wrong actor. In hearing his voiceovers, I wouldn't be surprised if they cast him based on those, and the way he worked in the prosthetics was just icing on the cake. He takes the role and brings everything you could possibly want to it. I can't say enough good things about him. He's going to be the favorite character for a lot of people after seeing this, and he's earned it. Somebody give this guy some more good roles now, please.
I'm a sucker for style, I can freely admit. It's not often that you see a movie created in such a way as to be completely original. You know, the kind of movie that will become one of those milestones for which a whole bunch of copycats will be judged. Like
The Matrix before it,
Sin City will have a slew of imitators trying to cop the style that works so incredibly well here. Much like that first Matrix film, the style and use of special effects is so integral to the story that it simply wouldn't work without it. In imitating Miller's stark black and white artwork used in the original comics, the film cleverly avoids an NC-17 rating, despite an incredibly graphic amount of violence that occurs throughout the film. Once the DVD comes out, I'm sure we'll be playing "the
Sin City drinking game." The rules are simple -- take a sip every time somebody dies. The only exception is that you must chug during the culmination of Dwight's story. I guarantee you'll be wasted within 30 minutes.
It's not just the body count that's so excessive in this film, but the way characters (and cannon fodder) are killed as well. Fans who have read the original graphic novels will figure that Kevin and Yellow Bastard's fates would be toned down somewhat to make an R rating. To their (and my) surprise, not an ounce of it has been watered down. True, stark black and while silhouettes are used to mask the violence, but it's still there, and you know exactly what's going on, even if you're not seeing it directly. They also make a nice tie-in to the original material, and you tend to think that with such devotion to the original stories, the scenes would have been filmed the same way regardless what rating Rodriguez and Miller were shooting for.
Some will complain that this movie is an exercise in nihilism. To a certain extent, they'd be right. Nothing matters in Basin City. Characters only feel that they've been redeemed once they're "killed lots of people." That's what film noir is, though. Some may not find deeper meaning in Marv's quest, but he does it for love, in a twisted way, and in a twisted sense of what's "right." The same goes for Hartigan, the same goes for Dwight. These are incredibly flawed people, yet they are doing what they're doing for the greater good, even if their methods are among the most vile ever put on film. This is what noir would be in the modern day. This is what noir is in the modern day. There's plenty to analyze here, both from a technical standpoint and a character motivation and storlyine standpoint. There's tremendous depth in this film that many will miss, much like many dismissed
Fight Club as being "a movie about guys beating each other up."Don't let Sin City fall into that same trap for you.
I've written more than enough words for one review. If you have the stomach for violence, go see
Sin City right now. If you'd rather see
Miss Congeniality 2 or something, well, I guess there's not much hope for you, is there? I'm sure there will be another cheesy romantic comedy for you down the pike soon enough. Movies like
Sin City don't come around very often, so for those who can appreciate it, cherish this one.
Four out of four stars. Highest possible recommendation.
