Sin City

Sin City is one of those films that I heard of and really wanted to go and see at the cinema but because it was technically a black and white film, nobody would come with me. Sad but true. Anyway I bought it the day it came out on DVD and let me tell you I was not disappointed.

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What is it about and who stars in it?

Reading from the back of the box.

Based on Frank Miller's series of edgy graphic novels, co-directors Miller and Robert Rodriguez deliver an amazing ensemble cast in the coolest movie of the year! Bruce Willis stars as Hartigan, a cop with a vow to protect a stripper, Nancy (Jessica Alba); Mickey Rourke as Marv, the outcast misanthrope on a mission to avenge the death of his one true love; and Clive Owen as Dwight, the clandestine love of Shellie (Brittany Murphy), who spends his night defending Gail (Rosario Dawson) and her Old Town girls from Jackie (Benicio Del Toro), a tough guy with a penchant for violence.

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Certificate - 18.

Runtime - 119 minutes.

Special Feature - Behind the scenes of Sin City.

English subtitles are available on the DVD.

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Verdict;

Now this film is not from your average comic book. For those who were fans of Frank Millers graphic novels then you will know that the entire comics were in black and white. Strange for a comic book you may think but they were very violent. I have only recently just had a look at them due to being a fan of the film and was quite surprised in the content

As like in the comic books, the entire film is shot in black and white. You will notice flashes of colour though such as the red of blood and the blue of someone's eyes. Now for those of you sceptics like my boyfriend who didn't believe that a black and white film could be watchable then I suggest you swallow your words and give this film a go. My boyfriend Dave refused to see it at the cinema saying he would not watch a black and white film and still refused when I bought it on DVD. However on Sunday me and my sister put it on anyway because we were bored and within fifteen minutes Dave was sitting up and getting into it. Afterwards he said that he found the film easy to get into and he forgot about it not being in colour.

Another reason why people may find this movie hard to get into and not interesting is because it is narrated the entire way through. Each character as it is going through their story narrates around 70% of it. This can get tedious to watch for some people who would prefer to see the action rather than hear what is going on in the characters head. For me the narration is an integral part of the story and really makes the film as excellent as it is. I like it as you can really feel what the characters are going through and because you literally know what they are thinking then you get into the movie more and their actions make a lot more sense.

Now for the various stories. You have three stories play out through the movie for the separate characters and each one is as strong as the next. Here I will take you through hem and tell you my thoughts.

The story with Bruce Willis and Jessica Alba is a touching one. Hartigan is an old cop who saves Nancy from a terrible fate when she was younger. Throughout the years they both do not forget about each other and their story shows a touching bond. I like this story because it really shows how if you put yourself out there then the smallest thing will make a difference. Bear in mind that some things that I say about the stories may seem confusing but I don't want to give anything away and you will understand exactly what I mean when you see the film.

Mickey Rourke plays the troubled Marv with ease. Marv does not have the greatest appearance in the world and as a result of that finds it hard to build up relationships with women. With Goldie he appreciates that she wants him and in the event of her death, he goes on a murderous rampage. This story shows that you cannot mess with a man in love and this story is probably the most violent out of the three. Marv was a central character in the graphic novels and Mickey Rourke plays the character well.

The third story with Clive Owen is a very interesting one. Brittany Murphy plays Shellie very well as a sassy character that is scared of Jackie but also tries to hold up her own attitude well. Dwight is an ex con who has a new face and cannot stand to see how Jackie treats women. Old Town is a place where the women rule and the men just do not mess with them and believe me they are great. This story is quite sickening with violence so not for the faint hearted.

Now characters that are also in this film who are not mentioned in the blurb on the box are a Chinese character played by Devon Aoki who has some fantastic scenes and honestly Devon is a fantastic actress and I haven't seen her in anything else but am hoping that she makes some more films as she was really good. Also Elijah Wood plays Kevin who is the freakiest character in the movie. I am not a big fan of Elijah's so this is the first film in which I have actually liked the character he plays. Also actors Michael Madsen and Josh Hartnett make great appearances.

Every actor in this film is a well established actor so do not worry about bad acting in this film. Each character is played to the most and utterly believable. Some of the scenes though do look a bit comic book like so don't be shocked when you see people getting hit and then surviving, it is a comic book adaptation after all where everybody is a superhero in their own special way.

Now the violence in this film is immense so I would not recommend this film to anybody who hates violence in films as there are some pretty dramatic actions that are made and they even made me want to look away at times. Also the gore is something to mention as blood is seen by the bucket load. Now the film is in black and white so the blood at times does not look real which does make it easier to take but Dave did say that it was one of the most disgusting films he had ever seen referring to the gore and the way things were done.

It is good to note that the entire film was shot in front of a green screen which you do see a bit of in the special feature. Now honestly this is one film I would have loved to work on because the outfits look fabulous and it looked a lot of fun to make. I especially like the way they portray the cars as moving.

Now one more thing to mention is the special guest director in the form of Quentin Tarrantino. I will not tell you the scene in which he has directed but it is fantastic and I tend to think it was obvious which one he had done.

I think this movie is excellent and although I have only had it a couple of weeks and have already watched it more than once, I could actually sit down and watch it again. The only complaint that I do have about the DVD is the lack of special features. There is just a behind the scenes documentary which is very interesting to watch but only lasts around fifteen minutes. I think they could have done a bit more with this and was a bit disappointed. Overall though this is a fantastic DVD of a great film which I am not surprised that it was a big hit.

I bought this film for a bargain price of Amazon nearly two weeks ago at £11.99 and it is one of the best films I have watched this year but do not expect it to be your average happy, colourful comic book adaptation.

Thanks for reading.

Some people absoultely rave about this film. I must confess I didnt sit through the whole thing as I become utterly bored within about 30 minutes.

Maybe it gets exceptionally good later - in which case I apologise for this review.

However, the 30 minutes I saw were extraordinarily poor and very over self indulgent.

I like the fact that they've tried to do something different - I do get bored of the same old Hollywood films being churned out one after another - However, unfortunately for me this just did not work on any level.

Its very rare that I dont see a film through, but this is one of those rare occasions.

Only see if it you want a challenge

I'm not the kind of person who would normally watch a movie like Sin City, never mind like it! Put on a chick flick and I'll be happy for hours; however I actually thought Sin City was really really good!

It's based on a collection of corrupt stories about the crime-infested hell-hole that is Basin City. The main storylines are based around Marv who avenges a murdered hooker, private eye Dwight helps a red light district stay independent from the Mob and disgraced cop Hartigan shields a dancer from a psychotic sadist.

I really enjoyed this movie, it's really dark and gritty (and gruesome at times) but the storyline is well put together and it's brilliantly shot!

I would definitely recommend!

I took my girlfriend to see this film which I will admit with hindsight may have been a mistake - she is more of a 'Hitch' or 'Love Actually' kind of girl and to say she didn't enjoy the film would be putting it lightly. Sin City is as far away from Hitch as humanly possible, even I have to admit it is one of the darkest most twisted films I have ever seen. Think of something bad in the world and it is in this film - drugs - yep, murder - yep, prostitution - yep, cannibalism - yep, weird yellow men with behavioral problems ... yep (watch the film) and yet I am a little embarrassed to say I enjoyed it.

The film is shot mostly in Black and White in the Film Noir style with bright colours used sparingly afterwards to draw attention to what is going on the screen (A ladies lipstick or a spray of blood for example.) As I said in the good points this film is drop dead gorgeous and has to be seen to believed - all the scenes look to have been planned to perfection and every frame from the film looks like a work of art.

The film follows the lives of a number of different people who live in Sin City, you will have probably seen the posters and I dont want to give anything away so I wont talk in detail about them, they are a strange bunch to say the least and they all have problems to deal with. The film does a lot of jumping about but isn't too hard to follow and you do begin to care what happens to the characters. The film is very violent and there isn't much happiness to go around so dont expect to leave the cinema with a big grin on your face - I do agree with what the previous reviewer said about the long stares and throaty voices but I think this is just the style of the film and so can be forgiven - some bits were a tad cheesy but overall these didn't spoil the film too much for me. I did see this film at the cinema and I'm not sure if DVD will be able to do the films look and feel justice but I would recommend that you give it a go.

p.s Frodo, what happened to you?

Sin City - Disappointing - very disappointing. Potential was great considering the line up... Mickey Rourke, Rutgar Hauer (or however you spell it), Bruce Willis, Benecio Del Toro, Clive Owen.... but no. Just wasn't happening for me. None of the major storylines grabbed me and, as a consequence, the film became something to be endured as opposed to enjoyed. I became increasingly annoyed with the incessant throaty growls of all male characters. The 'meaningful' stares became laughable and generally I found myself wanting to shout at the screen. Luckly I managed to contain myself until I got outside the cinema....

Would NOT recommend this film to anyone... unless they want the opportunity to lose 2 hours of their lives.