In Frank Miller's award-winning, graphic novel series Sin City everything is black and white with a rare splash of color. That's the way the books are drawn. That's the way the film is shot. That's the way life is in Sin City. Black and white. Good guys and bad guys. The eternal struggle. Sure, the divide gets blurry occasionally when good guys do bad things, at times very bad things, but these Old Testament avenging angels mete out justice with "a bit of the old ultraviolence" only for the right reasons.
It might be hard to see through the uniquely stylized look and the gruesome, violent subject matter, both pervasive throughout the film, but the motivating force behind each main character of the film's three storylines is love. Marv from Sin City, the one that started it all, is seeking revenge on the people who caused the death of Goldie, a young woman he met, made love to, and awoke in the morning to find dead beside him. She showed the grizzled Marv something he didn't know existed; Dwight from The Big Fat Kill is trying to protect Gail, an old flame, and her friends from the mob who have plans to take over Old Town and the women in it; and Detective Hartigan from That Yellow Bastard, he once saved the life of a young girl named Nancy from a child molester/serial killer. Years later, he must save her again when the killer reemerges and finds her. Love triumphs over evil even though the participants don't always.
I know we still have two thirds of the year left, but I am about ready to proclaim this film the best of the year. Rodriguez takes the great stories and artwork by Frank Miller, which is set in the world of hard-boiled pulp detective novels and has the look of '40 film noir, and transports them to the big screen without losing any of the magic. Yet, it's not just the look of Sin City that is captured; Rodriguez used Miller's drawings to frame the shots, basically using Miller's work as his own storyboard, a sheer stroke of genius. It's no wonder that Miller is co-director. It is his vision on the screen and Rodriguez just moved it from the page to the screen.
Article comments
1 - Joel Caris
Saw the movie today, after much anticipation, and I absolutely loved it. I might post a review of my own in the next few days, but you seem to have covered many of the bases. It took me a few minutes to get into the feel of the movie, despite knowing what I was getting into, but once I did I just lost myself in it. Rodriguez did an amazing job of bringing Miller's world to life.
And yes, Mickey Rourke was amazing. Actually, everyone did a damn good job, but he was particularly good. I'm glad to see it making decent money and hope it continues--I would love to see another Sin City movie.