Sin City (2005)

Many screenwriting books will tell you that when adapting a novel or another form of literature to take two or three key areas of the novel, and write the rest yourself; from scratch. Many of the latest comic books films have done such; they take such liberty from their source material that the characters become the only uniting force between the film and its literary cohort. What Robert Rodriguez has done with his latest filmmaking foray Sin City is lift everything that he could from his source material. Exact shots and dialogue are lifted straight from the page. I could literally see where Miller inserted the comic book trademark phrases "WHAM" and "BAM" in his books. It's a near perfect representation of a comic. That being said, I don't feel that Sin City translates to the screen as well as it could. What we are getting is a comic book come to life; what flaws we may overlook in the books, become fairly obvious here. But even with the flaws, this is a very intriguing adaptation that is well worth seeing.

 

Smarts

60%

Sin City focuses on three different stories which have no real cohesive motif to tie them together. The first story focuses on the gruff and angry Marv (played by ultra cool Mickey Rourke). After having a life altering night with a beautiful hooker named Goldie, Marv awakens the next morning to find her lying next to him, dead. He wakes up to the sound of sirens pouring down the street outside of his grimy apartment. He's been framed. The rest of the story deals with Marv leaving a bloody trail to find the killer of his one night love.

Marv is a very one-note character. He's always angry, even before going on his revenge spree. Because of this, Marv seems to be a very shallow character. There is very little variation in him throughout the segment's duration, thus making his segment the weakest. But even then, it's a lot of fun to watch and Rodriguez takes some of the film's biggest risks in this portion.

The next portion of Sin City focuses on the character of Dwight (played brilliantly by Clive Owen). The segment begins with Jacky-boy (Benecio del Toro) banging on the door of a lowly waitress (Brittany Murphy). Apparently, he's roughed her up quite a bit in the past and she refuses to let him in. Dwight appears from the shadows of her apartment. Jacky-boy hears the two talking and eventually is let in by the battered waitress. When going to the restroom, Dwight sends Jacky and his boys a very clear message and the gang leaves the apartment, never to return. Dwight decides to follow them to make sure no blood would be shed that night. The gang heads to Oldtown, which is a vigilante town enforced by low-brow hookers with heavy weapons. From this point on, the story spirals out of control and molds itself into the most interesting segment of the film.

Dwight, though nowhere near as one-note as Marv, is still a bit too similar for my tastes. He doesn't change much over the course of his segment, and the changes he does undertake are fairly simplistic and poorly explained. The story is where the strength of this segment lies. The story twists and turns throughout the duration, and is fairly unpredictable; unlike Marv's simplistic rouse. The characters are all fun to watch, specifically the hookers. Led by an eccentric Rosario Dawson, the fully loaded hookers demand the viewer's attention with both eye candy and power. As the story winds through its dark humor and violence, the final segment of the film begins.

Detective Hartigan (Bruce Willis) is one of the few honest policemen working in Sin City. Frustrated with the lack of effort on a child kidnapping, Hartigan decides to go after the man on his own. Finding the rapist and little Nancy Callahan tied to a chair in an abandoned warehouse, Hartigan engages the rapist in a barrage of bullets culminating in a gripping finale on a rickety dock. Fast forward eight years; Hartigan has been framed for the child kidnapping and let out of jail. Against his own instincts, he goes off to find Nancy and finds her in the strangest of places; a strip club. She's blossomed into a beautiful young woman (Jessica Alba). Hartigan has been followed to the club by the very same rapist that Hartigan dismembered eight years prior; except now, he's looking a bit more….yellow.

The final chapter of Sin City is, thematically speaking, its best segment. Each character is developed better than any of the previous ones, and Detective Hartigan is the deepest in the entire film. Nick Stahl, who plays the Yellow Bastard, gives a shockingly creepy and effective performance. Alba plays her part with a hint of innocence that gives her character a deeper meaning. Willis is fantastic, giving his best performance since Pulp Fiction. Though it may not be the most entertaining chapter of the film, it is the most poignant and nuanced.

 

Popcorn

85%

Rodriguez and Miller have gone out of their way to create an atmosphere well worth praising. It truly incorporates the world of Sin City in a way that few films can. That being said, it was a bit too reliant upon the green screen. I think that if actual sets were created for each scene, the film would be much more effective in providing its neo-noir tone. But once the viewer gets used to the visuals and the film begins to settle into its niche, it's not hard to be completely immersed in the film.

What flaws the film has in its character development and shallow storylines are easily made up for in its entertainment value. This is a fun, unique film to watch because of Rodriguez' style. Or is it Miller's style? This is a fully realized comic book come to life; Rodriguez relies upon Miller's book in his shot selection. It's a neat thing to see, and I'd like to see more films attempt to pull it off. Could you think of a Hellboy directly modeled after Mike Mignola's art? Or if the upcoming Watchmen film pulled its imagery directly from the page? Sin City could be the start of many fruitful things to come in the way of comic book adaptations.

Each of the actors fully immerse themselves in the roles provided by Frank Miller. There really isn't a weak-note here. Each actor goes by the books, and if there is a flaw within the characters, the writer is to blame, not the actor. Everyone is a lot of fun to watch, and a cameo by lesser known actor Nicky Katt is one of the funniest moments in the film. Much can be said for the acting in the film, and it is superb all around.

 

Final

As said prior, this is a comic book come to life. All the strengths and weaknesses of the comic books are on display here. Though it is a very literal adaptation, Sin City really does not translate to the screen as well as it does to the page. But this is still far from a failure. It is brutal, entertaining, and visually eclectic. It is one of the most stylized films I've seen in recent years (whether that is a strength or a weakness depends on the viewer), and it's easily Rodriguez' best effort yet. Due to its character flaws, Sin City is a good, but not quite great film, and one that I would hesitantly recommend.