Year:
2005
Studio:
Dimension Films, Troublemaker Studios
Feature:
4/5
DVD:
1/5
Sin City is based
on Frank Miller's graphic novels of the same name. It's a stark black
and white noire universe set in about the 1950's. It's a world full of
corruption and evil men doing evil things. The movie is a series of
three vignettes, though not all that tightly integrated like Pulp Fiction or Two Days in the Valley. The stories
could have been told in any order since they only superficially share
some characters.
We have the story of Marv (Micky Rourke), a violent man out for revenge
when the only woman who shows him kindness is murdered. The second
story features Dwight (Clive Owen), a killer in hiding who returns to
his old stomping grounds to help his hooker friends.
Hartigan's (Bruce Willis) story is split in two and serves as the
bookends of the movie. His is the story of a good cop who sacrifices
everything to help an 11-year old girl and later returns to help her
out again when she's 19.
The whole visual style is amazing. Director Robert Rodriguez shot the
movie so that it feels like a black and white graphic novel: stark
images and explosive action. On watching the featurette, it looks like
almost the whole movie uses cgi backgrounds. Every scene is composed of
the actors, some props, and lots of green screen.
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The violence
is quite graphic, though since it's almost all in black and white it
gives you a different impact. Spot color is used sparingly to highlight
things like a woman's dress or a car or a verminous villain.
Overall I am quite impressed with the movie. It shoots for a certain
style and hits it squarely. It has a stellar cast and a very adult trio
of stories. Sin City is an adult comic book and the movie delivers to
the same audience. Well worth watching.
Extras
An 8-1/2 minute behind the scenes featurette is the sole extra on the
DVD.
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