Sin City (2005)

Director: Frank Miller

Screenplay: Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez (based on the comic books by Miller)

Cast: Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke

Music: James Debney, Robert Rodriguez and Graeme Revell

Time: 124 minutes

Bottom-line: Would interest comic book fans; I’m not one of them

The film first came to my attention when I saw a YouTube video praising the film’s visuals. Having seen it, I would suggest just watching the trailer to get an idea of the visual effects used, and stay far away from the film. The anthology film features an ensemble cast consisting of Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Benicio del Toro, Mickey Rourke, Carla Gugino, Elijah Wood and several others in smaller roles. Filled with all the violence and action of the comic books, the film is a more-than-vivid portrayal of those.

 

Willis as Hartigan, and Alba as Nancy

The Yellow Bastard is the tale of the ageing cop, John Hartigan (Willis), who tries to stop the serial killer Roark Jr. from killing his 4^th victim: eleven-year-old Nancy Callahan. Hartigan horribly disfigures Roark Jr, but is also shot fatally. Much later, he finds himself in the hospital, where he is charged with all the crimes Roark Jr. has committed. In jail, he receives letters from the adult Nancy (Alba) for eight years. When he goes after her following his release, he realises he’s put her life in jeopardy again.

The Hard Goodbye follows Marv (Rourke), who goes in search of the murderer of a woman he slept with. He zeroes in on the Roark family, but is subdued by a silent assassin (Wood), who has also captured Marv’s parole officer, Lucille (Gugino). That only means that Marv now has one more person to kill.

The Big Fat Kill is about Shellie’s abusive ex-boyfriend, Jackie Boy (del Toro), who goes to Old City with his friends. When he stalks a prostitute, Jackie and his friends are killed by a martial arts expert. Shellie’s current lover is Dwight (Owen), who has an on-and-off relationship with the prostitute leader, Gail. They realise that they have killed a police detective. Dwight helps them to dispose of the body, but things go awry.

Rourke as Marv 

The 124-minute screen time is divided into 3-4 parts for the three sub-stories mentioned above. At the end of each, closing credits roll, and the next story starts. All three plots (and another small story called The Customer is Always Right) have nothing in common with each other except that they all happen in Sin City, and some minor overlap of characters. The other common aspect is the intense violence and gore, and I don’t mean stylised action like say, The Terminator, I mean Game of Thrones level savagery! Everything from severed heads, severed limbs, humans eating humans, dogs eating humans, humans talking to corpses that have “come back alive” … Sin City has them all.

 

Wood as the assassin

But, ultimately, it is based on a comic book, so these aspects will certainly impress many. I, for one, liked the visual style of portrayal (not the visuals themselves!), especially the use of colour. Almost every scene is black and white, barring one colour: the red blood of Hartigan, the yellow disfigured man, the yellow pills that Marv takes, the full-white glasses of the assassin, the blue car that Jackie Boy drives and so on. This use of colour is really effective to see, and it’s the only takeaway from the film for me, apart from the masterfully created neo-noir atmosphere in all the stories. There is a lot of gory violence shown on screen, whose horror is partly diluted because they’re shown in black and white.

There’s hardly any scope for acting in the film, but I did like the performances of Bruce Willis and Clive Owen. The former once again plays the role of a protector/hero, and Clive Owen showcases a stylish performance too. Elijah Wood does pretty much nothing: his character is a mechanical, emotionless assassin, but boy, does he scare you!   

 

Owen as Dwight (left) and del Toro as Jackie

So, if you are into action comics, Sin City will surely be a satisfying entertainer. If not, like I said, just watch the trailer, and turn to some other film.

My Rating: 1.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 78%