Musings From New York

Now, to be fair, I must say that I love Noir, and I love the Tarantino/Rodriguez camp of movie-making. And I haven't read any of the comic books (though now, I plan to!) But damn, what a movie! In fact, this is probably the first non-mainstream comic-to-movie adaptation that's worked. For example, I loved The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (the comic), but the movie sucked!

Thinking about it, you could say that Sin City in similar to Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. 1: both movies distill the essence of their genre into this highly concentrated, and highly potent mix, that kicks like a mule and leaves you dazed as you exit the theater ... OK, I'm struggling with this metaphor here, and I hope you understand what I'm trying to say!

The look of the movie is great - the gritty, shadowy world of noir is really brought to life. The shadows take on multiple shades of black, with the only color in sight serving to emphasize a character or situation. It's the most visually appealing movie I've seen since ... Sky Captain & The World of Tomorrow.

The movie is quite violent - but hey, it's Robert Rodriguez, the guy who made the El Mariachi trilogy & From Dusk Till Dawn! The movie really pulled me in, immersed me in the feel of Sin City, and that's no mean feat considering how jaded I've been about movies recently.

Two mentions about the acting: Bruce Willis as the weary old cop, Hartigan; and Clive Owen as the troubled soul seeking redemption by helping the leather-wearing, machine-gun & katana-toting hookers of Old Town. I hope the top dogs at Sony take a look at his acting here and reconsider casting him as James Bond after Brosnan retires.