Sin City

After seeing "Sin City" I feel that I now understand the phrase "film noir". Awesome to look at, "City" backs up the computer enhancements with solid storytelling. I've been asked a few times, "Is this like Sky Captain?," another movie using real actors supported, surrounded, and enhanced by CGI. While "Sky Captain" was also great to look at, the story did not enthrall. With "Sin City", the black-and-white film is filled with colorful characters.

The movie itself is actually three separate stories occurring on the bad side of Basin City. Honestly, I don't know that there is a good side to this town controlled by corrupt Congressmen and priests. The first story, my favorite, involves Detective Hartigan (Bruce Willis) and his pursuit of a child molester, whose father happens to be a senator. Story two, the more fun of the three, introduces us to the indestructible Marv (Micky Rourke) as he seeks to track down the guy framing him for the murder of a prostitute who he has fallen in love with. The final chapter, which is also the longest, least interesting, and most drawn out, tells the story of Dwight (Clive Owen), his fight with corrupt police, and the battle waged by prostitutes trying to maintain control of their part of Basin City.

As you can tell, there is a lot of violence, grit, and sexual overtones throughout the entire tale. Had this been in color, it certainly would have challenged "Kill Bill" for the amount of on-screen blood. As it is, the movie uses color sparingly, enhancing certain pieces of clothing, eyes, or other images that director Robert Rodriguez wants us to notice. At the same time, the dialog is straight from Frank Miller's graphic serialization, sounding like something from a bad 1930s cop-and-robber movie. That is also part of the magic of the movie. While it's not Shakespearean by any means, the dialog sets the tone for this dark trilogy of stories.

"Sin City" is certainly not a movie for everyone. I would definitely recommend it for those who enjoy movies such as "Kill Bill" or "Pulp Fiction". While lacking the trifecta of tales, "Sin City" was certainly worth visiting on the big screen, where it would be best viewed. I give it an A-.