Sin City (2005)

2.5 out of 4

Starring: Bruce Willis, Michael Madsen, Nick Stahl, Mickey Rourke, Jaime King, Elijah Woods, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Brittany Murphy, Benicio Del Toro, Rosario Dawson, Alexis Bledel, Devon Aoki, Michael Clarke Duncan, Josh Hartnett

Director: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez (with special direction by Quentin Tarantino)

Time: 124 mins

Viewed: in home theatre

Dark, stylish film adaptation of Frank Miller's comic book, focusing on the citizens, lawful and otherwise, of bleak, rainy Basin City. Three separate, but connected, stories - the first, a seemingly indestructible misfit (Rourke) searches for the super killer of his love, a prostitute named Goldie (King); the second, a reformed murderer (Owens) helps his new squeeze (Murphy) and a group of prostitutes (Dawson, Bledel, Aoki) fend off the desires of a corrupt cop (Del Toro); and in the third, cop Hartigan (Willis) saves a young girl (Alba) from the clutches of a pedophile (Stahl), only to be framed for the crime - shows the influence of Tarantino, including the trademark time shifts and gruesome violence (which is not lessened by the use of black-and-white). Entertaining but not altogether successful mix of film noir and comic book genres, with lack of background for many characters leaving one unsatisfied. Still, an innovative, artistic experiment, with a fantastic cast of veterans and newcomers.

(c) Joe Wong (4 September 2005)