There is no settling down! This is blood for blood and by the gallons. This is the old days, the bad days, the all or nothing days. They're back! — Marv
Thank Zeus’ harem that there are still filmmakers in the assembly line jungle that is Hollywood that make real films. By real I mean: movies that dare to think outside the box, that aren’t put together via a fixed recipe and that sport a “take no prisoner” attitude. You know freaking FILMS as opposed to pure products. 2005 has been a ho-hum year thus far in terms of big pictures achieving more than the McGarbage status, but leave it to Robert Rodriguez and his posse to turn the tide and give us something fresh…something unique…something worth remembering past the closing credits. I had never read Frank Miller’s Sin City graphic novels on which this cinematic bully is based on, but you can bet your girlfriend’s sister’s virginity that I’ll now hunt them hush-puppies downs pronto.
Sin City was a ground-breaking and utterly brilliant effort, one that took the term “comic book adaptation” to a whole new “slam-tastic” level. Since
Rebel without a Crew, Rodriguez used many of Miller’s comic book panels as storyboards to then emulate them in his flick to a “T”; it resulted in a jaw dropping visual experience that oozed of comic book-ness out of its every pore! I literally felt like I was reading a comic book while sitting in that stained and decrepit theatre seat. Only difference was that an invisible force was turning the pages for me. Not resolving itself to rest on its laurels with just that one trick, the kinetic directing style, the hypnotizing use of BNW & strategically applied colors (loved the red/white blood) and the overall entrancing Film Noir/Pulp feel also kicked in to crank the film’s veneer to “F*CK YEAH SHINY!” Now that was a stunning
bitch to gawk at! I was totally sucked into the world of the movie and simply didn’t want to leave! Then again my life blows pea soup chunks…so why go back right?
Thankfully, the hits kept on coming through the “meat” between the buns as well! Sin City proudly displayed big bull dog balls via its hideous themes (cannibalism, rape, pedophilia), its slew of macho/likeable male characters and its loose, however strong dames. We get it all here; from a big psycho/softy lug that loves to crack heads in a bulldozer like fashion while constantly doubting his own sanity (Mickey Rourke as Marv stealing the show in
my fav bit of the lot; The Long Goodbye) to an old timer cop who just won’t go down till the wrong things are set right (Bruce Willis at his affable best in
That Yellow Bastard). And when it wasn’t the anti-heroes owning me hardcore, it was the chilling villains! We get some sick squirrels in this mayhem park with Elijah Wood as an oddball cannibalistic serial killer and Nick Stalh as a creature-feature pedophile definitely being the creepiest of them all. Wood in particular gave me the willies with extra Mayo on the side! Who knew that Frodo could ever be frightening beyond his stalker like obsession with Sam? Top all of that quality with
excessive gore, tough/street poetic and at times side splitting dialogue and a couple of neato plot twists that whip lashed my silly mug 69 fold and you get a superior, crowd pleasing fanboy dish that begs for seconds!
I did have a couple of peeves with this City though with its narrative structure
being the main one. All of the stories felt separate from each other even though they overlapped in
one place near the end. In my opinion,
the whole would’ve been stronger if it would've flowed as “one” instead of being served up in blocks. Furthermore the wrap around tale with Josh Hartnett (named
The Customer is Always Right) was overkill and went on to give us one ending too many. Lastly, although I still got lots of side-kicks out of it; the middle account (called
The Big Fat Kill) paled in comparison to the previous jamboree (Marv slaughtering the scenery). Since Marv’s opus was fast and furious; having the longest
and most underdeveloped (the characters in this block didn't do much for me) of all the segments follow right after made it feel even longer winded than it already was. Don’t get me wrong; the bit had all kinds of slick moments within it and I still boogied with it but
in my book, a couple of snip-snips in the name of keeping the pace smooth would have been a wise choice.
On the whole though; Sin City was an Arrow pleaser; I was grinning from ear to ear 90% of the time; often back handed by the unique aura, the
outlandish stories and the endearing anti-heroes. It should be said that as a HUGE Mickey Rourke fan; it was a delight to
witness the big man do his thing full force on the screen. Tough, violent yet
highly charismatic and somewhat romantic in a twisted way...MICK RULED THE FILM! Contact your Travel Agent right away; pack your
rubber tiring, gas, saw, gloves, cuffs, razor wire, hatchet, Gladys and mitts
and get ready for one hell of an insane vacation in Sin City…my kind of neighborhood!