Review of Sin City (2005) by Jonny P — 17 Apr 2016
This movie totally rocked! "Sin City" is an incredible feat of visual artistry but is definitely intended for strong-stomached adults. This visually arresting film noir mimics the appearance of a comic book through unique camera filters, it's unique treatment of color (and the lack thereof), and its occasional incorporation of animation.
I would classify this film as "ultra-violent" with graphic imagery goes beyond many horror films. The artistic display of blood is reminiscent of "300" (inspired by the same graphic novel artist); however, the violent content is much more extreme and it is difficult to watch much of the decapitation, castration, and torture.
A lot of this story thrives on the disturbing level of "Saw." My personal opinion is that the nudity, profanity, and violence are excessive, but it seems that they didn't have a choice if they wanted to stay true to Frank Miller's graphic novels.
I love the artistic approach to noir film but the content was beyond entertaining. From an acting perspective, the cast is full of big names including Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Michael Clarke Duncan, Benicio Del Toro, and Elijah Wood.
Many of the performances feel overdramatic but that is the style of a noir film. Mickey Rourke is the particular standout in the cast. More than anything, this movie really makes me miss Brittany Murphy.
My main complaint is that the nature of the film only allows for most of the actors to have 10-15 minutes of screen time. You can only fit so many members of this ensemble cast on screen at a time but I still wish that their characters had more time to develop.
Robert Rodriguez's ambitious undertaking creates a vivid visual journey that stays true to Miller's graphic novels and has a stunning "wow" factor. "Sin City" is one of the grittiest films that you will ever see so be warned that, even if you can generally be tolerant of violence to enjoy an interesting story, this one may go beyond tolerability.
The real question is how much graphic content are you willing to sit through for a big visual payoff?
This review of Sin City (2005) was written by Jonny P on 17 Apr 2016.
Sin City has generally received very positive reviews.
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