A scene from the film Sin City.

Robert Rodriquez is a genius. Just one look at the camera shots and cuts of Sin City is enough to see that. A director of films such as Desperado and Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Rodriguez, in Sin City, takes on the surreal world portrayed in the graphic novels of comic writer/artist and Sin City co-director, Frank Miller.

For non-comic book aficionados a 'graphic novel' in this sense refers to a grittier and more graphic comic book feature which is usually inked in black and white. Sin City (not to be confused with the video game, Sim City) adapts stories from Miller's works Sin City (now renamed The Hard Goodbye), The Big Fat Kill and the aptly-titled That Yellow Bastard. While the stories may not centre on the seven deadly sins, they definitely provide characters that commit at least seven deadly sins, and then some.

Visually, the film is stunning and more than does justice to its comic book roots. Shot entirely with high definition cameras (therefore using computer-generated set designs), Sin City also uses the technique seen in movies, such as Pleasantville, where splashes of colour are mixed in with a black and white format. In Sin City's case, however, the splashes of colour are more splatters of red - blood red.
Since Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction) was a guest director on the film, it is no surprise that the Rodriguez/Tarantino combination turned out to be 'bloody' good. With more than its fair share of killing and torture, the film is not as explicit and gory as either of the director's previous films. Instead the film is 'artistically grotesque' to fit Miller's macabre comic book motif.

In contrast to the film's high-end special effects, it has the tone and feel of a 1940s detective novel with the corresponding deadpan dialogue.

Instead of 'hard-boiled' detectives like Phillip Marlowe, however, the narrations follow the inner monologues of the disfigured Marv (Mickey Rourke), the haggard Hardigan (Bruce Willis) and the impassioned and, let's face it, semi-psycho Dwight (Clive Owen). Marv wreaks vengeance for the "goddess"/ "slut" (depending on whose perspective you choose) Goldie (Jamie King) and Hardigan tracks down the "yellow bastard" child molester. Elsewhere, Dwight and Iron Jack (Benicio Del Toro) face-off and knock (and knock off) heads amidst O-Town's warrior women of the night, led by Gail (Rosario Dawson).

As far as the "broads" and "dames" are concerned, they scream out from the male fantasy-ridden comic book pages. The femmes fatales of O-Town kick and show ass in skin-tight leather outfits, while other "dames" reveal a bit more with what the film's censorship board refers to as "stylised nudity". No nudity for Jessica Alba fans, but some of the dark angel's seductive moves as a choreographer in Honey still linger on. Keeping some of these damsels in distress are villains Kevin (Elijah Wood) and Senator Rourke (Powers Booth from TV's Deadwood). Wood does not utter a word in the film, but his character is creepy beyond words, and if you put a lightning bolt on his forehead, he looks pretty much like a deranged Harry Potter.

Lighting up Sin City's darkened sky is a star-studded cast and chances are, if you can name them, they're probably in it. Practically all the performances were good, especially that of Del Toro and actor/boxer Rourke, who it's nice to see making a comeback, even if it is as a freak with a big heart.
Alexis Bledel from TV's Gilmore Girls also walks the streets of sin and although she has the right look, at times too much of her "Rory" character from Gilmore Girls shines through.

A 'bizarro world' for the big-screen, Sin City will not provide as much 'in your face' action as a XXX (Triple X) movie, as it is much more sedate in its approach. Do not come expecting a healthy dose of reality either, after all, the film comes straight from flipping through the pages of an imaginative mind.

A nice break from standard formula cinema, Sin City is one film where comic book and movie are in sync.

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