Sin City not necessarily a "Can't Miss"

I finally went to see Sin City this week. I am still not sure I liked it or not.

I previously posted how Sin City was a "Can't Miss" film. This film is for a select group. If you don't mind gore, then this is a good one for you. But, the film is not gory in the traditional sense. Blood is often represented by by a glowing liquid. Obviously you know it is blood, but it was good that it was represented by the glowing goo. The film wouldn't have been watchable otherwise. With characters losing heads, arms, legs, and etcetera, this film would have been too gross to watch. I enjoy the movies made by Robert Rodriguez, but having Quentin Tarantino as a guest director should have been a clue to the level of violence in this film.

The film itself was extraordinary. Done digitally, like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (the title of this site does not pull its title from this movie), the visual appeal of this movie is stunning. Filmed in black and white, Miller and Rodriguez use hints of color to add a dramatic feel to scenes. The opening story of the fim is fantastic. It is taken from Miller's Sin City book called The Babe Wore Red and Other Stories. The story is called "The Customer is always Right". The film version was word for word from the comic. Josh Hartnett plays the hitman and does it well. The scene, like the rest of the movie, is black and white, but the woman's dress and lips are bright red. An incredible sequence to open the movie with. At that moment I had high hopes for the rest of the film. I was disappointed.

This could have been a gritty pulp fiction tale, but it misses the mark. It was gory for gory's sake, it didn't add to the story. During one of the three stories featured in this film, Clive Owen (Dwight) runs around with Benicio Del Toro's (Jackie Boy) talking severed head in his hands. The head has the slide of a .45 sticking out of its forehead. Gore for gore's sake. The only Sin City book I have read is the one mentioned above, but Miller's writing seems like it is a whole lot better than what is portrayed in the movie. The opening scene and the first two stories are great (who'd a guessed that Mickey Rourke could be in a great story). The third one featuring Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba was just a dissapointment. The two highlights from this tale is a Ferrari and Bruce Willis with a humungous hand-cannon.

Where to go from here? I'll watch this film again. It's definetly one you'll need to see twice to decide whether it's really any good. As gross as it is, the visual aspect of this movie is stunning. That alone is worth seeing it at least once. The digital medium continues to develop. I am excited about what can be done in the future when it comes to movies.

This is definitely a movie for adults. Lots of violence and nudity (With a name like Sin City should you expect less?).

Worth the price of a matinee, but not the full-priced weekend admission.