FanUnity B(uzz)log

They don't make movies in the film noir genre anymore, and "Sin City" makes you wonder why. It's nowhere near a masterpiece, but it is a damn interesting film, moreso visually than storywise, but still very captivating on both levels.

Based on a graphic novel of the same title by Frank Miller, "Sin City" is co-directed by Miller with Robert Rodriguez, whose varied resume includes both action films ("Desperado", "Dusk Til Dawn") and children's films ("Spy Kids" series, "Sharkboy & Lavagirl"). "Sin City" is much different than anything Rodriguez had previously done.

"Sin City" is set the bleak world of Basin City, black and white except for a few exclaimatory splashes of color. It is world filled with criminals and ne'er do wells of various sorts, hitmen and hookers, dirty cops and crooked clergy, pretty dames and gritty antiheroes. The structure of film breaks the story up into a few segments, though like "Pulp Fiction" these segments are interrelated and add depth to each other. The end result is a wonderful introduction to a fascinating world, where good and evil are turned upside down and morality comes only in shades of gray.

The star of "Sin City" is the cinemtography, as the film is shot beautifully and the use of occasional flurries of color sprinkled in the black and white world is extremely effective. The performances of the actors are secondary to the setting, but they are still excellent in many cases. It's a star-studded cast, and they do an excellent job. Bruce Willis plays the closest thing "Sin City" has to a knight-in-shining-armor, a wrongly-jailed cop bent on revenge; Mickey Rourke makes a comeback underheavy makeup as Marv, a bloodthirsty thug whose struck by love; Jessica Alba shines as Nancy, a golden-hearted stripper tied into Willis' story; many other including Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino, Benico Del Toro, Clive Owen and Josh Hartnett shine in supporting roles.

"Sin City" isn't a revolutionary film in anyway, everything it does is something that we have seen before either in old films, "Pulp Fiction" or somewhere else. The way the elements are put together is very original, though. "Sin City" isn't an excellent film, but it is definately worth taking in. It is set to become a franchise, with a sequel already in the works. I'm looking forward to seeing what other stories will be told in this peculiar setting. While this isn't a five-star affair, it's a very memorable movie.

4/5 Stars