Sunday, April 03, 2005
Review: "Sin City"
"Sin City" (R) is a lot like "Robots" for adults. It looks great and the actors are absolutely stunning, but underneath it lacks the essential part of a movie -- a story. Granted, "Sin City" in fact has three stories, told in three seperate but connected vignettes. However, it takes a while to settle into the storytelling method, which consists of quite a bit of narration. This can be explained by the movie's roots, a comic book by Frank Miller. Robert Rodriguiz gathered actors like Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, and Clive Owen (along with countless other talented folks with recognizeable names) and converted the medium. Presented in glorious black and white with splashes of extreme color, the comic is turned into a visually thrilling experience. After I got into the storytelling method, I actually liked the film. There are some snappy one-liners and (maybe too much) violent killing and it is a must see for adults. While it is sure to be studied with great detail by many filmmakers, it is a far cry from the perfect "Kill Bill." As with "Closer," Clive Owen steals the show.
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2 comments:
a)the probably greatest homage to everything NOIR, this movie intentionally (as with all of rodriguez's films) deals cheesy lines and hard-boiled goodness, while weaving three [similar] storylines together into a pulp fiction style chaos that, in the end, gives you only enough to understand the world the movie dwells in, but far from enough to complete it.
b)not all actors are good, although this is a standout for brittany murphy, because her boston bad acting sass actually fits this type of character.
c)Kill Bill, although far from perfect, illustrates one thing: Tarantino's style for filmmaking, nothing more. It shows us how much he loves old samurai films, and even flat-out Xeroxes shots and scenes from his favorite movies. Don't get me wrong, i loved Kill Bill, but it is nowhere near his best work, nor his most original.
(FYI: the only reason Vol. 1's Crazy 88 fight sequence was black and white was that the MPAA required it to be approved and rated R in the US. In japan the movie was released with this sequence in color.)
Don't get me wrong, I liked the movie, I just was not entirely impressed with the stories. I was, on the other hand, impressed with the acting. I believe everyone did a good job. As for "Kill Bill," I consider it a modern classic. I could not see "Sin City" without its big-name stars. While Uma Thurman and some of the other celebs in "Kill Bill" are well-known, they are not Bruce Willis. But the big list lends itself well to "Sin City." Yet I always saw the actors. In "Kill Bill," I saw characters- well-defined, stunningly original characters.
Sorry for the rough reply. It is early and I am rushing through this so I can get to class.
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