Visiting films from the past that you have not seen before can be a lot of fun. However, it is very hard to view the movie in the right light. Things change in cinema, and what may have been ground breaking at one point in time can be tired and old in the current climate. It is difficult to put on the glasses of proper perspective and see a movie for what it was when it first hit theatres.
This is the challenge with Sin City. It is a highly stylized and visually driven movie that holds onto breath with its own personal mode. It is based off of the graphic novels of the same name by Frank Miller, and the whole nature of the movie is to throw away the normal cinema experience and bring the audience into the world of the graphic novels. At the time of its release, it truly was a unique and different experience to behold as it set itself apart from mainstream fare.
It is the visual style of the movie that makes the most impact on the viewer. Yes, it is also propelled by an insane amount of violence, but there have been gratuitously violent movies in the past, so nothing completely new here. It is the way that it does it that sets it apart. Mostly portrayed in black and white, Sin City is garnished with the feel of hand drawn frames straight from paper. This is not only done by way of the visceral, but through the choreography of the sequences. It defies gravity and logic, spelling out in a way that harkens back to the page flipping action of comic books.
It truly is a feast for the eyes, that is for sure. It is not to the point of the extreme, though. There are movies where you can watch it once and then want to view it immediately a second time to catch everything that happens in the background. Those are the truly amazing visual films. Movies like Mad Max: Fury Road and The LEGO Movie come to mind. Those are at a standard where watching the complexities of the entire visual scope is a task within itself. While Sin City is good, it is not quite at the level of those movies, or a Zootopia.
Guiding the film is a very noir and dated dialogue, headed up by cliche ridden narration. While that could sound like a criticism, it is actually a positive of the movie. I rather enjoyed the throw back language and the clunky conversations that are spewed forth. It is part of the charm of the movie. It is from a different era, one that fuses different generations into one fantastical location called Basin City. There was a lot of fun to be had through the dialogue, as well trodden as it may have been.
Directing the movie is Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller. I am a general fan of Rodriguez, as I really enjoy his knowledge of film and his unpolished style. El Mariachi is a favourite of mine. The man has the ability to take an idea and put a personal spin on it and throw in call backs to cinema past. I felt a lot of that while watching Sin City. You can really get a feel for what Rodriguez is doing here, dashed in amongst the stylings of Miller.
I cannot speak too deeply into the directing talents of Frank Miller. Well, I suppose that's not true. I have seen two of the three movies that he has directing credits in, those being the two Sin City films. While the first movie feels fresh and alive, the second felt like generic stylized cinema, something that could have come out of any film school or shot by anyone. There was no personality and spice to it. It wasn't a horrible movie, but it was by no means a standout affair.
And hey, Quentin Tarantino gets a guest director credit in there. The nice thing about Sin City is that you cannot completely tell where the influences of Tarantino come into play. There are times where a hand or head flops off that could be guided by him, but it is not clear. Hell, it isn't clear at all who is directing what, and that is a good thing for a movie with multiple helmers. You don't want it to feel disjointed and sense a change of styles throughout the film.
While the film boasts a wide an varied cast (from Bruce Willis to Alexis Bledel), they are not the standouts of the movie. The acting is far from the centre piece. It is probably the most cut rate it could possibly get away with being. I am pretty sure that this is intentional, but it did not add anything to the movie by being a blandly performed film. Any of the characters could have been traded out for another actor and it would not have made really any difference. There is no individual stamp of excellence that holds up in this movie.
I suppose that's part of the problem of this movie. While it exceeds in some areas, it is nothing special in others. I can't help but think of how much more vibrant it would have been if there was more energy from the talents in front of the camera. Sin City definitely stands as a ground breaking movie, and one with a distinct voice. That does not mean that it stands as an all time classic, which is too bad, because it could have been.
Rating - 3 out of 4 stars
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