Sin City

[MK]

Has anyone seen it yet? Is it good?

[Slicksuit]

I haven't seen it myself, but I intend to. The unaminous opinion among all that I've asked who saw it is that it's great - good screenplay as well as stunning visuals. The reviews from the press have been positive too.

[The_Edge]

Yeah, I saw it Friday. Loved it! It is brilliantly composed. At first the design is distracting but after just a few minutes you're completely emersed in the film. And make no mistake, this is a violent and bloody film. No reputable characters what-so-ever. That doesn't keep me from appreciating it as art though.

[MK]

I am torn. I love the look . That is my main attraction to the film...which is very unusual for a CGI film. That is normally a turn-off....but this not only a comic book movie...it is a modern take on film noir. Like those made in the golden era, there is plenty of sex and violenc.....but this might be way over the line. The pulp in the classics drove the story. Also a movie that has no relatable character loses me. We will see.

[IndianaGuybrush]

OK, I've seen it as well and the one thing I know from both seeing it and being a member here is that some people are going to love this movie and some are going to really hate it. I'll explain.

The film borrows very heavily from our beloved film noir style. The composition and dialogue are especially heavy with noir influence, and the entire film is in black and white, with color thrown in for effect every once in awhile. Overall it's a stunning film visually, no matter what you think of the rest of it. Think Sky Captain but done in seedy black and white the whole time and set in the trashy depths of Basin (Sin) City.

The film is narrated throughout. Sometimes this means voice-overs, and sometimes this means characters just talking to themselves outright. Personally, I love this effect. I really hate it when I go to see a movie adaptation of a story largely narrated in the first person and the director/writer has come up with a number of ways to try to get the same information across without actually having to narrate the story: added dialoge, added characters, added scenes. In my mind they usually detract and confuse the story rather than clarify. There is none of that in Sin City. In fact, the dialogue, with very few exceptions, is cut-and-pasted directly from the text of the graphic novel.

The movie is incredibly faithful to the graphic novels it was spawned from. In fact, in addition to the dialogue being a direct copy, the scene composition is taken directly as well. There are movie stills that could be held up to the comic panels and appear almost identical. The casting is also excellent.

Now we come to what I believe to be the part that will separate the fans from the critics. The movie is incredibly violent. While the style may be borrowed from noir, the subject matter is all modern, and in some ways futuristic. Prostitution, murder, torture, cannabalism, and a good deal of sex thrown in for good measure. This film is GRITTY, sometimes outright dirty. It is set in a hellhole of a place, a city gone wrong, run in an uneasy truce by the mob, the cops, and the prostitutes. To borrow from the dialogue 'walk down the right back alley in Sin City, you can find about just anything'.

Above is my attempt an an impartial review. As for my opinion of the movie: I loved it. But then, I loved the graphic novels, and these movies, as I stated above, are as close as you can get to the graphic novels on film. In a few ways if falls just short of the mark, in MANY it hits the mark right on target, and in a few it surpasses the original. I've got a feeling that this a movie that will offend quite a few people here, particularly those who are senstive to graphic violence and sex. My advice to those of you who are not sure you want to see this movie: Go into a Barnes and Nobles and find a copy of the first Sin City graphic novel. It's called "The Hard Goodbye" (Marlowe fans will recognize quite a few references like that). Sit down and read the first 10 pages or so. it's a graphic novel, which means it reads quickly, and a graphic novel, which means that it contains a lot of nudity and violence. If you hate what you see, save your $10 and don't see the movie, as you'll be seeing nothing new, other than the stunning visual effects. If you like what you see, do yourself a favor and buy books 1,3, and 4, which are the books the movie is based on, and read them. They should take less than an hour each and they'll make the anticipation of seeing your favorite moments from the book brought to the screen that much sweeter.

Sin City: In my mind a triumph of a film in nearly all ways, but definitely not for everybody.

EDIT : MK was posting while I wrote this so I just saw his post. The characters, in my mind, are incredible. As for their being no characters you can relate to, obviously this changes from person to person, but there are definite "good guys" in the movie... well, one good guy for sure, and a few "pretty good guys" :p

[Ken]

All these reviews have me REALLY excited - I saw the trailer and instantly was desperate to see this film. Violence... I am ok with it if its justified and even if not I can overlook it. The Kill Bill films had a lot of violence but it kinda worked with the rest of the film and didnt spoil the genius.

Ken

[PrettyBigGuy]

I have to agree with Guybrush. I have been a fan of the Sin City books for years. The style of the writing and art is so unlike other comics that I was instantly hooked. I've been waiting for this film for a long time and I'm satisfied by the final result. This is by far the most accurate frame for frame adaptation of a comic book ever made into film and fans of the comics are going to LOVE it.
Definately check out the books @ the bookstore first. There is a lot of subject matter in the film that will offend and maybe outrage some of the folks around here with more delicate sensibilities. They did remove a lot of the nudity that was in the comics (both male and female) but some of the subjects like cannibalism, corrupt clergy, corrupt cops, pedafilia (sp), prostitution and torture are all present. It is also extremely violent, so if this not your style, I'd say stay away. It's done in a very stylized way, but still very graphic. This ain't no Bogart Noir film, that's for sure.
MK, I know you pretty well, and I can say with confidence that you probally won't like this film. This isn't any kind of noir you are used to.
PBG

[ITG]

So MK, what was your take on the movie now that you've seen it?

[android]

We went to the Austin premiere on Thursday night. Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller were there.

One questions they got was about whether they had any trouble with the MPAA rating. Surprisingly, they got an R rating on the first submission which is what we are seeing. The violence is very stylized and in black and white. The *idea* of what you're seeing is far worse than what you actually see *on the screen* most of the time.

There's actually not that much actual sex other than a brief scene at the beginning. There are a lot of scantily clad and topless women, most of them heavily armed and very dangerous.

And the black and white is like none you've seen before It is quite literally black and white like the pen and ink drawings. The contrast is pushed to the edge. Very little soft or medium grays. The Paramount had a DLP projector for the night and the presentation was spectacular.

The CGI backgrounds ended up being far better than than the renderings they had shown in the previews. The best way I can describe it is obviously not real, but not digital or fake looking either.

Frank Miller said the guiding principle was "when it doubt, black it out." Apparently that's what he does in his drawing. He'll sketch it all in pencil with all kinds of detail and then when he inks it, he just keeps inking until he likes it.

If you're squeamish or overly moralistic, I wouldn't recommend it. If you liked stuff like Kill Bill or Pulp Fiction, it'll be right up your alley.

[The Wingnut]

Saw it tonight.

I walked in blind. No reviews, just saw the poster on the wall and had heard some buzz here and there. Just happened to be wearing slacks, a satin-stripe collared shirt, one of my best ties, my MacLachlan fedora, my best wingtips and my newly acquired Christian Dior Bogie trenchcoat. I settled in for what I knew would be something that would push some wrong buttons, but I'd probably enjoy anyway. I figured I'd be seeing an action drama, another Die Hard, or Pulp Fiction...I didn't expect a full-blown modern take on noir, or a faithful screen adaptation of a graphic novel.

I'm the kind of guy that goes into an R-rated movie expecting a lot of filth. I wasn't disappointed by Sin City in that regard. Violence, I can handle. A lot of Sin City's violence is exactly what you'd expect in a comic book...the impossible, unlikely, campy, overdone. You look at it and laugh...I found myself reacting at the absurdity of the violence with laughter far more than I'd care to admit. Some of it was downright predictable, and I took great pleasure in miming exactly what I figured would happen next and seeing it played out immediately. People watching me (how could they miss a guy that looks like Sam Spade incarnate, slumping in his overcoat, fedora perched on his knee?) must have thought I'd seen the movie a few times and was some cosplaying fanboy.

The balance of the violence, however, scratches that itch to see the bad guys get what's coming to them. Marv's internal dialouge while giving a couple of wiseguy hitmen their just dessert is classic noir. While pumping them (with lead) for information, he is calmly thinking of what scum they are and how they deserve every punch, every bullet, every jaw-and-nose shattering smash of their faces into the brick walls of the alley they're in. And of course, the scene fades to black as Marv lets the guy he's just shot in the gut and chest know that now he's going to get really nasty. Of all the characters, you have to love Marv for his flippant, smooth-as-glass reaction to some hairy situations. Swat team pounding at the door? "Be right out." *SMASH...* Out he comes.

There's dialouge you thank Frank Miller for...Dwight feeling bad that he might have to take out what is just an honest cop doing his job, regretting even doing something that catches the eye of the law at all. Among all of the gratuitous filth, antiheros, underdogs, and tragic everymans, there's the admission that the 'good guys' are still there in traditional form, and they don't deserve a spraying of lead in a 'kill 'em all, they're wearing badges' angst-ridden fit of anti-establishment propagandic slayings.

The sex is...pointless. Gratuitous. Unnecessary...but tell Hollywood that and they'll laugh in your face, if not spit. For noir, sex is a staple. For Hollywood, if sex is a staple in a genre, they're weilding a pneumatic staple gun, and a script is a roof begging for shingles. I expected it, even asked how much there was...the reports shouldn't have been trusted, there was far more than I was comfortable with. Bare-breasted women do little for a film other than destroy its credibility, assuming it had any to begin with. In an age where punching 'boobs' into a search engine will turn up all the bare breasts you could possibly want(but never have), why throw it into movie theaters nationwide, where it's not specifically solicited? It sells...moths to a flame. Titillation attracts buyers.

There are three main stories, three characters to identify with:

The tragic everyman Hartigan played by Bruce Willis, a hard-boiled cop with scars pointing to a rough past. This is a man that's bent on protecting the innocent, even if it means getting mean, dirty, and even busted up. He'll let his entire life get flushed if it means the innocent remain unscathed. He gets shot to pieces, get up, and keeps driving. Here's a guy that anyone would be glad to have as their protector.

The underdog antihero played by Clive Owen, a man with a hidden bloody past who in vain is still trying to hide. Trouble likes him. It likes his girlfriend, it likes his ex-girlfriend, it follows him around, gives him fits of schizophrenia. He's cunning, cautious, and even fearful. It doesn't keep him from protecting those he cares about, however, and the fight against a corrupt cop explodes into an all-out war for a slum section of the city.

Mickey Rourke's Marv, a face that looks as if it was carved by Easter Island's architects, a body built like a tree trunk that seems to take every imaginable abuse and keep going, miraculously healing in short order with nothing more than the application of surgical tape. Marv is the sledgehammer driving upholstery tacks; a guy that seems to enjoy jumping through windows, open or not, the unstoppable force heading for the immovable object. Glib, flippant, strangley calm, Marv is full of one-liners, volatile reactions that are precluded with straight-shooting prophecies of the immediate future, often delivered with a masochistic smile. Marv connects.

Sin City is everything that people hate in modern movies, and it's everything we love about the golden era of film.

You've been warned.

[MK]

...hhhhhmmmm......my take is a bit different .

I think Sin City has an amazing cinematic look. Very new and different. It will be celebrated in the same way as The Matrix for it's stylistic approach. It is the best effort to date to bring a comic book to life.

Having said that, I have no desire to see it again. I walked away numb. No feeling for the characters. I winched (sp?) a few times.....you do that when someone's genitals get ripped off....but I didn't care about anybody. I felt the character development was extremely shallow.

[android]

Some of the comments on this board and others said this movie had a lot of sex.

In my opinion, the only "sex" scene is the one at the very beginning with Marv and Goldie which is very short.

All the rest is just gratuitious nudity. Sure, it's all sleazy, but I think there is a distinction.

So what do you consider to be "sex" in a movie?

[MK]

I am posting from my PDA and for some reason it won't let me post lengthy messages.

part II

Also trying to have Marv as a goodguy didn't work for me. He really wasn't very different than the evil bad guys. I think just hit. There is no contrast in the story. There are no up moments. Women are either hookers or strippers. They are all tramps. There is not a decent gal in the bunch. Bruce's character is a goodguy. He is burnt out cop who is putting his life on the line to stop a child molester and save the life of a little girl.....who grows up to be a stripper (of course)

Even though he is good cop....I don't feel much for him. I cared a lot more for John McCain.

I really hope they keep kids away from this movie. This adds gasoline to the fire in regards to kids, violence , video games and not associating those being killed as real, feeling people.

[MK]

The problem is the DVD will come out and kids WILL see it. It makes me sad just thinking about that.

Then there is the total disrespect for God.....don't get me started on that........

[Matt Deckard]

What are you talking about, all the women had hearts of gold. I didn't see one bad girl in the bunch. Only the men were heavies.

I thought it was a bad transfer from a graphic novel to the big screen. It was no movie. If they were going to do what they did they should have aired it on TV. It was very empty.

Sort of like the Ned Beatty version of our town where it looked like a dismantled play with half sets put onto a screen. Why not go all the way and make it into a real movie.

[ITG]

The problem is the DVD will come out and kids WILL see it. It makes me sad just thinking about that.

Then there is the total disrespect for God.....don't get me started on that........
For that, I can tell ya now, I don't wanna throw my money to the movie to see it. Thanks for heads up, MK.


What are you talking about, all the women had hearts of gold. I didn't see one bad girl in the bunch. Only the men were heavies.
Matt, not sure if you're being sarcastic or not (sometimes hard to tell on the internet), but if you're not kidding, I think someone mentioned all the women were either prostitutes or strippers. Does that mean they are good girls? Sorry, just trying to figure out your quote.

[Matt Deckard]

Going by this movie they were good at heart though victim to circumstance.

They were surviving in a world where the men had all the power and the women had little if any. It was the old west.

[flat-top]

I just saw it. Liked it alot........but I wanted to love it. I was exhillarated by it, but still unfulfilled. Sorta like "Sky Captain", (even though they are polar opposites), I felt there was something missing.
flat-top

[android]

You've got to realize the premise of the movie. In our daily lives we don't have much adversity. Well, not enough to make a movie about in most case. We have police, politicians and religious leaders that are mostly good people. Our society is capable of dealing with adversity and making the world a safe place for us to go about our daily lives.

In Sin City, it's the other way around. The vast majority of the leadership and the cops are corrupt. That means that if you want to be a "good guy", you've got to do it yourself and you've got to fight the system.

One of the question at the premiere was why is the film so anti-establishment?
Frank declined to answer that one and the picked another question.

[SappySwami]

I thought this was a great flick, though, I was wincing for about a quarter of it. I'm growing more sensitive to violence (go figure, usually works the other way) but like Wingnut said it was so over the top for the most part that it was like Evil Dead or something, where it's so unreal you can let it slide. And to quote Roger Ebert, the movie "uses nudity like the 70's survived."

I liked the prostitute women the most. :cool: They didn't want the mob, or the cops to be running them, so they run Old Town on their own. I thought they were empowered hookers. Or something.

And as for the disrespecting God, I don't think it was that, as much as supposed Holy Men were also bad guys, because of the massive amount of corruption in Sin City. What's funny is that almost every character wears a crucifix, and Becky, one of the hookers of Old Town, wheres like 30.

I think I enjoyed the movie because I didn't look for characters to relate to. I don't have a problem will all the characters being bad guys and not-as-bad guys, so I didn't feel like I was let down. In fact, I was surprised by Hartigan, Bruce Willis' character, even if he had his own problems. I think I'm going to see it again this weekend.

[MK]

You don't think putting a bloody,cut-off head on the pages of an open bible disrespectful?!?!

[SappySwami]

Oh, that's right, there was that... 0_0

[PADDY]

Just seen it and felt it was over the top with gratuitious violence that wasn't necessary. Started really promising and just degraded down hill. Also felt it was a tad too long, so all in all, I felt disappointed by it. I really, really wanted it to be a great modern film noir rendition, but it fell miserably short. Sound track score was good, and I liked the mix of colour with b&w, but the yellow guy was just the last nail in the coffin for me. A real shame.

[BellyTank]

Sounds like you saw the wrong film Mr M....
B
T

[PADDY]

BT...A WISE man from the southern hemisphere once quipped..."Just not my cup of pee..." And that sums up my opinion of it, it didn't float my boat for me. No big deal, as there seems to be a plethora of movies at the moment on my TO SEE list. Next one is Downfall (about Uncle Adolf's last 2 weeks in the Fuhrer Astoria!), then there's the mexican movie, "Maria full of Grace," and of course there's the Batman movie (how was it Holly?).
Just recently watched "The Talented Mr Ripley" and "Far From Heaven" again, and love them both...horses for courses I guess.

[HaraldTheSwede]

I liked it, but I'm a fan of the comic.

The main problem with the movie in my opinion was that it was always hitting the gas pedal. When you read a comic you have the opportunity to stop and admire a picture, or think about what has happened. Here you couldn't do this. And it made it a bit harder to understand the characters.

[ClintonHammond]

Me, I thought Sin City was one of the best movies I've seen in say the last ten years... I hope they make 10 more just like it.

And I couldn't care less if kids see it... Movies and video games don't make kids violent... bad parenting contributes to it more...

"Then there is the total disrespect for God"
I donno... I recall the movie said nothing at all about "God.'.. but it sure did nail his 'fan club' pretty well, near as I can tell...

"putting a bloody,cut-off head on the pages of an open bible disrespectful"
I'd call it putting one prop on another prop...

[BellyTank]

Paddy, I think I just saw a trailer for "Maria full of Grace"-
seemed to be a teenage girl swallowing condoms full of heroin...

Mr. Ripley was pretty creepy-

Speaking of films revisited- 'Schindlers List' was a good watch after a few years.
Maybe not an accurate rendering of the story but a good watch anyhoo.

B
T

[Dahlia]

I'm reviving this thread just for the fact that I watched Sin City for the first time last night...

It seems there are mixed reviews, and overall I really enjoyed it. I loved the fact that it was a comic book but as a film, there were some shots where you could tell that they paid so much attention to detail to get it to look that cool (and no, I'm not referring to the bloody scenes, I'm referring to things like profiles outlined in a doorway, the really professional and precise use of black and white without it being a black-and-white film, that sort of thing). They may have tried too hard to make it like the comic, making the film cheesy or confusing at times (I know that some people probably had no idea why characters would talk to themselves and things like that). It's not for everyone, and I don't think children should watch it (regardless of whether I think violent movies make kids violent, I know it would have disturbed me if I had watched it as a child). With all that said, I can't wait for Sin City 2.

[CherryRed]

DH and I just watched this last night. I couldn't watch a lot of it because I am super sensitive to violence. But I liked the feel of it and the characters were well done.

[Feraud]

I just saw Sin City. I thought I would hate it but liked it a lot. My wife did not, she could not get passed the violence. Her reaction to Reservoir Dogs was exactly the same as to this. A later viewing and some perspective has made her a big fan of R. Dogs. Maybe she will give this another viewing one day.

Sin City is the bleak, depressed, violent and sex laden Noir that drew me to the old films. Think 'Touch of Evil' or 'Out of the Past'. This film is updated to reflect the language, fashion, religious and sexual attitudes of the times. These attitudes are not necessarily correct but there none the less. There are redeeming characters in this mix of over the top prostitutes, gangsters and cops. Most of 'em get killed.

The title should say it all but I will say it again. This movie is not for children! It is 98% violence!

[DanielJones]

What I enjoyed about this flic was that it matched the graphic novels. The actors and actresses looked like the characters they portray. I thought it was put together quite well since it was a crossover of at least three of the graphic novels, they did well. For me, a great visual ride. But, that's just my two cents.

Cheers!

Dan

[Quigley Brown]

I watched it on cable last night. Sometimes too much graphic violence in a film is a turn-off to me. So overall I guess this film was a big turn-off. It was entertaining in parts, though.

[Jack Scorpion]

I am a huge classic noir fan and I have to say I didn't like SIN CITY. The Mickey Rourke storyline (Marv) was pretty good, but the rest I found to be terrible.

I was happy to see Powers Boothe and Rutger Hauer in cameos.

But in the end I think it terms of noir cinema, it ripped off certain stylistic elements, but general adhered more to the genre of comic book, which I don't particularly dig.

[mysterygal]

I'm surprised you watched it MK! I saw the previews and was disgusted just with that....Pride and Prejudice anyone?:o

[Quigley Brown]

I must also admit that watched Ron Perlman in 'Hellboy' last night, too. I did actually find myself enjoying it...who would have thought with a title like 'Hellboy?'

[shamus]

I just saw this thread...

I liked Frank Millers Sin City. I didn't realize I had read the graphic novel years ago. I thought Willis was great. I loved the look and total Noir story line.

I did get an "un-easy" feeling on the violence, but that is what the filmmakers wanted us to feel.

I'm not sure I'd watch it again, but I did enjoy it.

I'm also not sure of the religous concerns towards the film.

It's worth seeing if you can handle unexpected violence.

[Hondo]

I thought it was okay and agree with Jack, everythings a ripoff....


but general adhered more to the genre of comic book

That was the main thing from this film that made it different

I had no problem, I've seem worse violence, this one wasn't that bad,
Right Shamus, Bruce Willis was great:cool2:

[John in Covina]

Sin City is a vision of the modern world where everything wrong with the world is coming to a head. (Strangely, most people don't realize that no city can operate if it is totally corrupt. There have to be legitemate honest people in the background to make the infrastructure work.) Here though the failure is on the front burner for the film, corruption of the powerful: police and politicians, corruption of those that are suposed to be God's representatives on earth in Rutger Howers clergyman. Our heros are not simple clean men, they too have wallowed in the filth and taint. The bad guys all are devored by their desires for power, wealth and the need for the submission of others to their will by any means. Our heros don't submit and are punished for it. Now comes time to right a wrong and since the bad guys have no shame, usurped the power and trust they have been given, the gloves are off and our heros have nothing to lose anymore it is a no holds barred kill or be killed kind of fight.

Justice of one form or another is meeted out. Our heros suffer too.