Sin City

"Walk down the right back alley in Sin City, and you can find just about anything"

So last night I walked down the isle to Sin City, and what I found was exactly what I was hoping to find. A hard boiled stylized neo-noir. This movie is balls to the wall action. It hits the ground running and doesn't slow down until credits start to roll. I have long been a Robert Rodriguez fan, even though he has been a bit of an underachiever since breaking down the door to Hollywood with his 7,000 amature epic "El Mariachi". Don't get me wrong, I really like "The Faculty", "From Dusk til Dawn" and "Desperado", but I always had the feeling that Rodriguez never really got all the pieces to fit as well as he did with "El Mariachi". The talent was obvious, but he had yet to fully deliver on it...until now. From the first scene of Marly Shelton shaking in Josh Hartnett's arms to the very last frame, this move works on every level. I love the Spiderman and X-Men movies, but this isn't a movie based on a comic book. It is a comic book come to life. The cinematography and visual effects are breathtaking and really add to the feel of the film. "Sin City" does what "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow" was never able to. That is to make the effects compliment the film, instead of draw attention away from it. They were both shot pretty much the same way, but you can tell that Robert Rodriguez is a vastly superior filmmaker. The next thing to gush about is the casting. It is pitch perfect dead on. Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Benecio Del Toro and Clive Owen deserve special mention for really delivering very real and heartfelt performances in what could have been way over the top. The cast really helps ground a film that could have been too cartoony and over the top for it's own good. This film should do for Mickey Rourke what "Pulp Fiction" did for Travolta. At the very least it should get him more, better parts. Watching Josh Hartnett, Elijah Wood, and Alexis Bledel play completely against type so well, was also cool to see. Elijah Wood does an especially good job as a mean as hell killer for hire. I am not a big comic book guy and I have never read "Sin City" in comic form, but if it is anything like what I saw on that screen last night then maybe I should give it a shot. It's my kind of comic book. No superheroes in tights, instead its violence and hot women. Sometimes even violence with hot women. Can't beat that.

"Sin City" is easily the best film of the year, maybe the best comic book movie ever and deffinatly the movie that will remind everyone that Robert Rodriguez is a force to be reckoned with.