By LINDSI HEBERT, Staff Reporter.
Directors Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez and special guest Quentin Tarantino take you on a tour of Basin City. It’s infested with crooked cops, criminals and the femme fatales that fall in love with them. Gritty, dirty and dark, it’s the perfect setting for a noir classic.
“Sin City” is based on several of Frank Miller’s graphic novels. The film tells the stories of a few select characters and their lives within the city. One story the film tells is “The Customer is Always Right” which is about The Man (Josh Hartnett) having an important conversation with the beautiful Customer (Marley Shelton) about life, love and how Customer is just tired of running from everything.
Another story, “The Yellow Bastard”, tells of Hartigan (Bruce Willis) as he races to the pier to prevent Junior (Nick Stahl) from raping an eleven-year-old girl. It’s dramatic enough on its own, but then the added dilemma of Hartigan’s backstory takes place. It’s the day before his early retirement, brought on because of a heart condition. Following the usual hardened cop in a harder city routine, he ignores his partner’s warnings and races to save the girl before backup arrives.
In “The Hard Goodbye” Marv (Mickey Rourke) is a brute of a man. Hardened, scarred and with a face that could cut glass, he falls in love with the beautiful Goldie (Jaime King). The two spend a passionate night together and then come morning, Goldie is dead. Marv quickly realizes that he has been set up and is out for blood.
Last, but certainly not least, in “The Big Fat Kill”, Jackie Boy (Benicio del Toro) tries to get Shellie (Brittany Murphy) to let him and his thuggish friends into her apartment. Shellie tries to refuse because her new boyfriend Dwight (Clive Owen) is changing in the other room. Jackie Boy shoves his way in and beats on Shellie, but is then threatened by Dwight. Embarrassed, he leaves to go on a crime spree. Dwight follows, in hopes of stopping the group. Unfortunately, nobody expects renegade prostitutes to mess everything up.
“Sin City” is certainly unusual. It’s filmed digitally, and then edited to look black and white. The entire movie looks like it crawled right out of a comic, and it fits the mood perfectly. The way the separate stories are told is interesting, and I won’t spoil it by going into details.
“Sin City” is one of those movies that you either absolutely love or absolutely hate. Though it is heavily stylized, it is still a great film. The stories are compelling, especially if you’re already a fan of crime drama. It’s not “The Big Sleep” or “The Maltese Falcon,” but they hold up for this modern interpretation of the noir genre. It’s a wild ride, and of course has the Quentin Tarantino touch. What that means is this movie is violent. Beatings, blood, shootings, blood. Tarantino loves his blood, and “Sin City” is the perfect outlet for that kind of thing.
If it’s your first time watching “Sin City”, pay attention. It can get confusing if you zone out. It deserves undivided attention, and really, any film junkie needs to see “Sin City” at least once.
On a scale of 1 to 5 gummy bears, with 5 being the highest, “Sin City” gets a solid three and a half gummy bears. It’s a gritty, wild ride so sit down, strap yourself in, and shut up because the movie’s playing and it’s rude to talk during the film.
