"Walk down the right back alley in Sin City and you can find anything."

Sin City (2005): 9/10

Poster (c) Dimension Films

I wasn't really cognizant of the release of Pulp Fiction, as I was at the age of six. But I can see how it could have changed the history of cinema and how it effected the times. And when fanboys all over the USA heard about Sin City, based on three of Frank Miller's cult graphic novel series, they all clamored that it would be the next Pulp Fiction. Why would these people say that? Maybe it's how the ads plastered "Guest Director Quentin Tarantino" all over the place. Or maybe it's because it has a similar "neo-noir" style. Or maybe even the three-intersecting-storyline aspect. Whatever the case may be, Sin City turned out to not be the next Pulp Fiction. But it's just about as cool.

Sin City's comprised of three stories which all take place in Basin City, or Sin City, where prostitutes and hitmen are rampant all over the streets. In "The Hard Goodbye," Marv (Mickey Rourke), after sleeping with Goldie (Jaime King), finds her dead and goes on a rampage to avenge her death. In "The Big Fat Kill", Dwight (Clive Owen) helps out a bunch of prostitutes reclaim the streets from the cops. And in "That Yellow Bastard", Hartigan (Bruce Willis) goes to find Nancy (Jessica Alba), whom he saved years earlier from a man who's been colored yellow (Nick Stahl) after Hartigan...rendered him useless. Actually, there's a short fourth story as the bookends to the movie from "The Customer is Always Right" with Josh Hartnett.

If there could be one cliché phrase to describe Sin City, it would be "style over substance." Shot almost entirely in black and white (save for some well-placed color images), and with computer generated backgrounds (like Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, except people saw Sin City), it looks great. It looks almost exactly like Miller's graphic novels, including some segments with pen-and-ink graphics to completely replicate Miller's novels. Anyone who dislikes Sin City says that it didn't have enough story. But when you see the trailers, you know that this is what you're getting. You're getting the best-looking movie of the past few years. It's better than all of these so-called "advancements" in CGI. It does for visual filmmaking what Peter Jackson's Braindead did for blood.

Of course, there's also no denying the absolute...coolness of the plot. It's a complete guy's movie: every female character is either a prostitute, stripper, has a nude scene, or a combination of all three. All of the guys have guns and kill and torture people. It's almost like an old-time Western, or something like that, except with more blood and female nudity. The way that the plot is connected is done in a very cool way, with a little connection between them all. And we can't forget about director Robert Rodriguez's ultra cool direction. With Rodriguez, there's never a dull moment in the film. It's a non-stop ride, which is already getting me excited for Sin City 2 and 3.

All of the actors were great in portraying their tough-as-nails characters. The standouts, though, were Owen and Benecio Del Toro (who was also in "The Big Fat Kill"). They're just the coolest characters, played by two of the best modern actors. Their standout scene is the scene that Tarantino directed, with the two of them in a car. That scene can basically sum up the whole movie. It's absurd, violent, weird, and absolutely bloody fantastic.

Rated R for sustained strong stylized violence, nudity and sexual content including dialogue.

Review Date: April 29, 2005