Sin City
Once again, I find myself in the position of having to write a review without having done my homework. No, I've never read the Sin City graphic novels. My thoughts on the film, then, will be based on nothing more than the film itself and my reaction to it. The most obvious thing to say about Sin City is that it is violent. You knew that (or you should have). But I don't think I'm stretching to say that it is easily one of the most brutally, graphically violent movies I've ever seen. It was enough to squick me out, which is the only reason that I couldn't give this one a fourth star. The rest of the film was excellent. Much of the dialogue (and the near constant voiceover) approached campy cliché, but that never bothered me. In fact, I think it worked wonderfully with the noir style. And there was plenty of good acting: Mickey Rourke was intense as Marv, and I particularly liked Nick Stahl as the villain of the Hartigan story. Clive Owen did a decent job, but no matter how good an actor does otherwise, if he can't get the accent down, it pulls me out of the moment. On the other hand, nearly all of the female performances were either too flat or too overdone. Though, since a lot of the female roles only exist for skin, it doesn't hurt the movie too much overall. So, to sum up, if you don't like horrible violence and a lot of bare female skin, this isn't a good movie for you. But you probably already knew that. Otherwise, check it out.
Viewed: 2005-04-01 | Released: 2005-03-27 | Score: B