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By
WAYNE KLEIN
Original sin pushed humanity
out of paradise but in the film "Sin City" based on
Frank Miller's graphic novel that doesn't really
matter. If heaven is where you make it, then some
of these characters have found their own little
slice while others find their own form of
redemption. Director Robert Rodriguez ("Spy Kids")
has made a film that looks like a living graphic
novel capturing all the elements that made
Miller's original a noir classic.
Rodriguez adapts a number of Miller's comic books
combining four separate stories into one roller
coaster ride of a film. In the first entitled "The
Customer is Always Right" Josh Hartnett plays a
reluctant killer who looks at his job as a form of
seduction. In the second Marv (Mickey Rourke)
tries to find the killers of a woman he was
involved in a one nightstand with. Marv has been
framed for the murder of the girl and Marv feels
that it is his duty to bring the person
responsible to justice. In the third story Dwight
(Clive Owen) defends a woman from her abusive
boyfriend. When the boyfriend (Benicio Del Torro)
is decapitated it threatens the uneasy truce that
exists between the prostitutes of Old Town and the
police. In the fourth story (which actually acts
as the framing story opening and closing the film)
Bruce Willis plays detective Hartigan who is in
pursuit of a child molester/killer named Roark
(Nick Stahl). It doesn't help that the killer is
the son of the mayor (Powers Boothe) and the mayor
will do anything to protect his son and his own
political ambition to become president.
This exceedingly violent film harks back to the
film noir genre with its dark, brooding
cinematography and use of unusual camera angles.
The characters wouldn't have been out of place in
a classic noir film like "Out of the Past." What
distinguishes "Sin City" from older noir films is
its harsh reliance on graphic violence and gore.
It's like taking a walk down a dark, nasty alley;
you never know quite what to expect or how extreme
the violence will be until you see it.
The image quality for the film is top notch with a
sharp crisp transfer. Shot on high definition
digital video, the black and white images are
accented with various colors to help create the
mood or highlight the emotion of each scene. The
bright comic book colors off set the moody black
and white cinematography well providing a nice
contrast. The 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround
soundtrack makes effective use of the format
spreading the effects and action around the
speakers creating a convincing environment for
"Sin City."
The extras are minimal and fans should be warned
they're in for a double dip with this DVD;
Rodriguez has indicated he plans on releasing a
multiple disc later in the year. This set comes
only with an eight minute "Behind-The-Scenes"
featurette that barely touches on the unique
effects that the film director used to make this
memorable living comic book. Dimension Home Video
is also releasing this with four collectible
covers to also sucker fans into buying multiple
versions of the same DVD. While I'm not advertise
to profit or marketing, this extreme approach and
the fact that Dimension plans on releasing a more
extensive multi-disc set suggests that this should
be a rental. Unless you're absolutely certain that
you won't end up buying the multi-disc set (which
will reportedly have additional footage, extensive
behind-the-scenes extras and commentary tracks),
I'd suggest not purchasing this movie. It's a sin
that Dimension feels it's necessary to take fans
with this marketing approach. As a result, I can't
whole heartedly recommend buying this disc even if
you're a fan of the movie. |
