Sin City (2005)
Director: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Jessica Alba, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel
With the recent development surroundings Sin City 2, and the realization that a sequel to the original 2005 movie will actually happen, it seemed like a good time to revisit Sin City. Sin City came out in when I was 19 years old, one year removed from high school, and going through a serious Quentin Tarantino phase (maybe I still am?). Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, those movies were my crack at the time. I devoured all things Tarantino. Of course, Sin City isn't a Tarantino movie strictly speaking, but it is directed by long time Tarantino cohort Robert Rodriguez, and Tarantino gets a "guest director" credit, which was more than good enough for me. So Sin City is a movie that I looked forward to quite for some time. I remember having a Sin City desktop background on my computer for several months before the release of the movie, which prompted many a friend or relative to ask me what the heck the movie was about. The concept of a (mostly) black and white movie (six whole years before The Artist, people!) was enough to pique the interest of many.
As a dedicated Tarantino fan and wannabe film expert (how little has changed since those days), I decided to my do my homework by checking out the Frank Miller graphic novels the movie is based on. I've always had an interesting relationship with comic books. I love comics, and I've always wanted to get into them, but that world always seemed so overwhelming. There are so many comics, and so much back story and continuity surrounding everything that it's hard for a beginner to know where to start. There's also the financial side of things. As a man who spent a great deal of my youth sacrificing all my pocket money to the Magic: The Gathering gods, I'm wary of picking up new hobbies that could lead down the treacherous slope known as "collecting" anything. Nonetheless, I like to be somewhat aware of what is going on in the world of comic books, and I will occasionally pick up and read something based on a recommendation or something I see somewhere on the web that piques my interest.
Even with my fairly rudimentary knowledge of comic books, though, I was aware of the legendary Frank Miller, and had even read Dark Knight Returns. The Sin City books really grabbed me from the beginning. Obviously, the art was striking. The world of Sin City was so massive and detailed, and there were tons of memorable, cool characters. There was also plenty of nudity and violence to sate a young mind such as mine at the time. I also loved how, as opposed to one continuous, ongoing story, each novel was like a capsule taking place at different times, and with characters that we know well from before often having lesser roles or cameos in other stories. It made Sin City seem so real. After reading and enjoying those books, I wasn't convinced a really good movie version was even possible.
It seems the ever-curmudgeonly Frank Miller found the right man for the job in Robert Rodriguez, though. Rodriguez apparently expressed a desire to make the movie more of a "translation" than an adaptation. He certainly accomplished that goal. Sin City is often a shot-for-shot recreation of scenes from the graphic novel. In that way, Sin City is more of a forerunner to a movie like Zack Snyder's The Watchmen than the Dark Knight movies. Sin City and Watchmen are interested in putting what you see in the comics directly on to the screen, whereas Dark Knight kind of vaguely takes the characters and concepts from the comic books, and uses them to create an entirely new thing without adhering to any one particular storyline from the comic books.
There are certainly arguments to be made for both styles, but I think that movies like Sin City and Watchmen have a very definite "ceiling" simply because of the way they are made. Those two movies are probably not as good as Dark Knight Rises, or X-Men: First Class (arguably the two best comic book movies), simply because they lack the "soul" of those movies, so to speak. Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan is like a master improvisor, taking a previously known piece of work and mutating it into something perhaps even more special than the original, just in a different way. By contrast, Sin City is like a great, technically perfect cover version of a well-known song. Sure, it's great for what it is, but we're left wondering what could have been had the artist taken some liberties, exposed himself to some risk. Unfortunately, Miller probably never would have allowed Rodrigeuz to touch Sin City in the first place had he not agreed to this incredibly faithful adaptation, so it was a bit of a catch-22 situation to begin with.
I don't want to sound too negative about Sin City. This was a movie that I greatly enjoyed when it came out seven years ago, and I still feel largely the same way. What Rodriguez was able to accomplish with Sin City is truly incredible, particularly from a technical standpoint. The visual style of the movie is unmistakeable, and just as impressive today as in 2005. All the visual effects and touches thrown in to make the movie seem more "comic-like" work marvelously. The movie, much like the graphic novel, is impossibly stylish, and has a serious "cool factor" that persists even to this day. The brutal and visceral action sequences are, while frequently cringe-worthy, just as frequently breathtaking. The casting is also magnificent. The movie is packed with stars, and most of them were obviously the right choice for the role (with the possible exception of the late Michael Clark Duncan). Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Elijah Wood are particular standouts. Rosario Dawson is also frighteningly sexy as a bloodthirsty prostitute. Above all, it is clear throughout Sin City the respect that Robert Rodriguez has for the source material, and the care he takes in adapting it for the big screen. In a world where sloppy adaptations and cash grab-style flops are commonplace, for that he should be commended.
Verdict: 7/10
As a dedicated Tarantino fan and wannabe film expert (how little has changed since those days), I decided to my do my homework by checking out the Frank Miller graphic novels the movie is based on. I've always had an interesting relationship with comic books. I love comics, and I've always wanted to get into them, but that world always seemed so overwhelming. There are so many comics, and so much back story and continuity surrounding everything that it's hard for a beginner to know where to start. There's also the financial side of things. As a man who spent a great deal of my youth sacrificing all my pocket money to the Magic: The Gathering gods, I'm wary of picking up new hobbies that could lead down the treacherous slope known as "collecting" anything. Nonetheless, I like to be somewhat aware of what is going on in the world of comic books, and I will occasionally pick up and read something based on a recommendation or something I see somewhere on the web that piques my interest.
Even with my fairly rudimentary knowledge of comic books, though, I was aware of the legendary Frank Miller, and had even read Dark Knight Returns. The Sin City books really grabbed me from the beginning. Obviously, the art was striking. The world of Sin City was so massive and detailed, and there were tons of memorable, cool characters. There was also plenty of nudity and violence to sate a young mind such as mine at the time. I also loved how, as opposed to one continuous, ongoing story, each novel was like a capsule taking place at different times, and with characters that we know well from before often having lesser roles or cameos in other stories. It made Sin City seem so real. After reading and enjoying those books, I wasn't convinced a really good movie version was even possible.
It seems the ever-curmudgeonly Frank Miller found the right man for the job in Robert Rodriguez, though. Rodriguez apparently expressed a desire to make the movie more of a "translation" than an adaptation. He certainly accomplished that goal. Sin City is often a shot-for-shot recreation of scenes from the graphic novel. In that way, Sin City is more of a forerunner to a movie like Zack Snyder's The Watchmen than the Dark Knight movies. Sin City and Watchmen are interested in putting what you see in the comics directly on to the screen, whereas Dark Knight kind of vaguely takes the characters and concepts from the comic books, and uses them to create an entirely new thing without adhering to any one particular storyline from the comic books.
There are certainly arguments to be made for both styles, but I think that movies like Sin City and Watchmen have a very definite "ceiling" simply because of the way they are made. Those two movies are probably not as good as Dark Knight Rises, or X-Men: First Class (arguably the two best comic book movies), simply because they lack the "soul" of those movies, so to speak. Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan is like a master improvisor, taking a previously known piece of work and mutating it into something perhaps even more special than the original, just in a different way. By contrast, Sin City is like a great, technically perfect cover version of a well-known song. Sure, it's great for what it is, but we're left wondering what could have been had the artist taken some liberties, exposed himself to some risk. Unfortunately, Miller probably never would have allowed Rodrigeuz to touch Sin City in the first place had he not agreed to this incredibly faithful adaptation, so it was a bit of a catch-22 situation to begin with.
I don't want to sound too negative about Sin City. This was a movie that I greatly enjoyed when it came out seven years ago, and I still feel largely the same way. What Rodriguez was able to accomplish with Sin City is truly incredible, particularly from a technical standpoint. The visual style of the movie is unmistakeable, and just as impressive today as in 2005. All the visual effects and touches thrown in to make the movie seem more "comic-like" work marvelously. The movie, much like the graphic novel, is impossibly stylish, and has a serious "cool factor" that persists even to this day. The brutal and visceral action sequences are, while frequently cringe-worthy, just as frequently breathtaking. The casting is also magnificent. The movie is packed with stars, and most of them were obviously the right choice for the role (with the possible exception of the late Michael Clark Duncan). Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, and Elijah Wood are particular standouts. Rosario Dawson is also frighteningly sexy as a bloodthirsty prostitute. Above all, it is clear throughout Sin City the respect that Robert Rodriguez has for the source material, and the care he takes in adapting it for the big screen. In a world where sloppy adaptations and cash grab-style flops are commonplace, for that he should be commended.
Verdict: 7/10
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