Yesterday, I went to see Sin City, a movie based on Frank Miller's graphic novel series of the same name. I never read the books, but with critical acclaim and Clive Owen in it, I thought I would check it out. The movie was repulsive and brilliant.
What was brilliant was the style and music. At first, I didn't realize Sin City was a Robert Rodriguez film, but after a minute or two, I could see his (and Quentin Tarantino's) fingerprints all over it. They both have great taste in music and give their films a unique, signature feel. This was also the second movie I've seen that was completely set against a green screen. (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was the first.) It allowed Rodriguez to faithfully re-create Miller's world on film.
The sexploitation, graphic violence (beheadings, amputations, castrations, mutilations) and stories themselves were repulsive, which is apparently signature Miller. The movie also combined the stylized gun violence of Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time in Mexico with the stylized sword violence of Tarantino's Kill Bill.
The movie tells three separate, yet repetitive stories. All of them take place in Sin City, a.k.a. Basin City, where every woman is a stripper or a prostitute and every man is a cop or a criminal. It's a place where people have no problem torturing and killing one another. Morals are relative or nonexistent. At their core, all three stories are about redemption through revenge. The only thing separating the "good" guys from the "bad" guys is their views about violence against women. Nothing separates their views about violence against other men.
The most memorable characters were the disturbing villains. Elijah Wood played a creepy serial killer/cannibal who was a cross between Hannibal Lecter and Wolverine. Benicio Del Toro portrayed a crooked cop who was like Harry Potter's Nearly Headless Nick, but with a pistol impaled in his forehead. And Nick Stahl played a smelly, yellow pedophile that reminded me of a Ferengi from Star Trek. In a black and white world, he stood out.
Watching this film was a frustrating experience and I left with mixed feelings. I admired the technique, but couldn't get past the content. It was like opening a beautifully wrapped box of maggots. I guess I'm just not as hip as the critics are (or I just have something against maggots).
