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UMD Review of the Week:
A Techtite Review (Click Cover Art To Order) Sin City is one of those movies whose originality alone deserves an Oscar, but you know it won't happen. It's got unique cinematography and an excellently adapted screenplay, but since when does that matter to Oscar? Fight Club, and to a lesser extent Robocop and The Fly, all deserved Best Acting nominations at least, yet the intense violence in those movies scared the little golden statuette away. Sin City, similarly, is Oscar caliber. But it's got too much intense imagery to get the kudos it deserves. In a crazy world, this means it's that good. Yet what really sets this film apart from the rest is its fascinating cinematography, made to symbolize the new-age comic book it is based on. See; Sin City was a graphic novel which used mostly black and white images, with the most vibrant characters and objects colored in. This is translated beautifully onto the screen, in a black and white movie with vibrant color of only key objects, whenever needed. Remember the little girl in the red dress in Schindler's List? Well; this film is not unlike a whole black and white town of red dresses. This is so darn cool...! The story is not unlike a graphic novel styled after Pulp Fiction, as various inhabitants of Basin City --or, with the two letters scratched off the street sign, "--sin City"-- slowly tell their tales of woe. Overall these are stories of heroism in the darkest of locales; the single candles in the wind of this dark and mysterious city. Hartigan (Bruce Willis) is a lone trustworthy cop in a police force more or less owned by the crime lords. Marv (Mickey Roarke) is this humongous ex-criminal who's madly in love with Goldie (Jaime King) only to be framed for her murder. A long segment of the film has him hunting down her killers. Then there's Dwight (Clive Owen), who confronts one of the more crooked cops in the city, only to be saved by a gang of stiletto-heeled females who assist Dwight in the resulting gunfight. Okay, that last story sounds a little silly, but it's silly in only a Pulp Fiction sort of way. Even at its most incredulous you're unlikely to fidget in your seat once when seeing this film. It's the one liners that sell the film's dialog. In the moment where Hartigan defeats a murderous child molester, the cop mentions casually "I first shoot away his weapon," shooting the murderer's hand clear off, only to then shoot away "his other weapon," where he shoots him in the groin. That's the sort of film at work here. This is the sort of movie where at the end of a gunfight a grenade falls at the hero's feet, only to have him lament, "...and everything was going so well." This is the film where the beautiful damsels of the film are described by the men as smelling "the way angels ought to smell." Yet this is also the sort of film where a guy says "I love you" and his lover laments in response, "always...and never." Yet this is also the sort of film where the most brutal acts are unseen. Muses Dwight when witnessing a fight between a sword wielding female and her victim, "She doesn't quite chop his head off. She makes a Pez dispenser out of him." Yeah. This is that sort of film. All that being said, this is no Disney film. It's dark, foreboding, and very violent. In fact; I would dare say I never thought I'd see a film more graphic than Pulp Fiction, and here it is. The film more or less jumps the shark at the midway point, where a particularly psychotic serial killer played by Elijah Wood has kidnapped a woman played by Carla Gugino. When Marv comes to rescue her, it is described moment after moment what her kidnapper does to his female prey; he chops them up, piece by piece, yet sews up what's left of the victim so they're alive for more later. We don't see this act; we just hear about it, followed by Marv's female friend showing a stub where her hand used to be. Of course, this is an action film of sorts, so you know that quasi-hero Marv is going to get back at this killer, and get back at him good. We also know he'll get back at him very graphically, and without remorse. Yet did we really need Carla's character showing us her the stump where her hand once was, as she screamed for what seemed like eternity? That's pretty gruesome. Her screams of what happened to her only make it more so. Yet in the end, upon leaving the theater, it's clear this film falls prey to what I often like to call "The Robocop Rule." To be fair, this rule is similar to the number one rule of comedy: to always leave them wanting more. If you try to spike the ball with too much hilarity, you can wind up saying that one joke that goes too far (a particularly funny episode of Seinfeld joked about this, quite beautifully). In action films, the rule is similar: never go over the top with the action. Although this film never leaves you bored or snoring, it has the occasional imagery as if to say "Can you top this?" and in such moments, you might wonder if they went too far. At the bare minimum; they scared poor Oscar away. Yet let's make that Oscar's problem. This film is the most guilty enigma in films. It is in mostly black and white, yet has the most vibrant colors I've ever seen. It is a film where everyone is the villain, with the "hero" in the best of them shining through. It's an action movie with good dialog. Yeah; that last one is hard to believe. It's true though. This film is a gem. If someone dropped that gem in the mud along the way, it's okay. If they can tolerate the violence, everyone should visit Sin City at least once.
Any Extras? : YES! ...and even on UMD disc! Sure it's short but it's a very amusing little behind the scenes featurette about the making of the film. It even includes a blurb from "guest director" Quentin Tarantino. That's enough to make the older PSP owners want this one. Just keep it away from the younger kids who'd use your PSP to play a E-for-everyone video game. It was a violent movie after all...but in the spirit of films like Pulp Fiction, I liked it. <<<back to Techtite's PSP Page (Home) |
