RSSSin City
Did you think the original Batman was good? Did you think X-Men 1 and/or 2 was good? That's only because you haven't seen Sin City yet. It's a sort of grisly hyperkinetic noir where Elijah Wood looked a little like a scary Charlie Brown with claws. Sound hard to believe? No way. Sin City is the first movie to faithfully capture the dark beauty of the modern graphic novel on film.
Graphic novels are something of a sub-genre of comic books that went beyond pulp heroes in tights. Graphic novels are lavishly illustrated, often painted, printed on heavy art stock paper, and tell stories that take on mature themes. Sin City is a rough story. It's definitely not one for the kiddies. But for those of you who can enjoy a visceral, beautiful tale of monstrous mercenaries and militant hookers in leather, then you're in for a treat.
Quentin Tarentino is credited as a special guest director, and you get the sense that he ensured there was lots of blood, a threaded storytelling style, and a breakneck pace. The man in charge, Robert Rodriguez, was looking for a challenge after From Dusk Til Dawn and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over:
"Having finished the Spy Kids series," Rodriguez says, "I was looking for a good effects challenge." That's what led him to Miller's Sin City. The series takes readers on an eye-popping tour of an underworld packed with tough cops, femme fatales, and seedy lowlifes. "The stories were great," he says, "but what grabbed you was the look." Miller's black-and-white chiaroscuro style reflects an artist raised on pulp fiction and old crime movies. Every scene takes place at night or in some back alley.The result is almost hard to describe, but if you are familiar with Frank Miller's work in print, you will probably be pleasantly surprised.
—Wired
Sin City is, hands down, the best comic book made to date.
Base Show Rating (BSR): 9/10Applicable Modifiers:
- +1 if you like comic books
- +1 if you like Jessica Alba (that's right -- it goes to 11)
- -2 if you dislike violence
- -1 if you dislike hot, scantily-clad hookers
