The Town Without Pity

Way back in the Stone Age, when Dinosaurs ruled, and Aliens were still tinkering with our DNA, I was a sixteen year old comic dork exploring the realms beyond superhero comics. I loved superhero comics (still do, by the by), but I also knew that there was so much out there beyond the superhero (still is, by the by). Enter "Sin City", Frank Miller's brash, brazen, rough and tumble bobsled ride into a black and white hell. The only people who wore tights in Sin City were the hookers, and the only morality was whatever could be carved out in bullets. This was my gateway to the world beyond, and, man oh man did it ever change my perspective.

A few technological advancements in cell phone technology later, and now we've got a "Sin City" movie. The results are, in a word, stunning. It's all here, crammed into a tightly packed two hour bundle, all the bullets, blood, boobs, rage, scraped knuckles, and full on insanity of the comics, all up on the big screen, drained down to only the most primal of colors. Director Robert Rodriguez ain't got time to pussyfoot around here, he adapts three of Miller's books without apology or regret. Of the three (the Original Sin City story which I think they've retitled "The Long Goodbye", "The Big Fat Kill", and "That Yellow Bastard"), "The Long Goodbye" works best onscreen. It seems to have the most time to breathe and strecth out, and quite frankly, Mickey Rourke damn near explodes as a pitch perfect Marv (also, big kudos to Elijah Wood as Kevin the Killer...). The story just seems to play out best at the whiz bang pacing of the flick. Admittedly, "Big Fat Kill" and "Bastard" both loose a little bit of something at this breakneck pace. I almost wish Rodriguez had about thirty more minutes to let those stories breathe a little more as well. Still, it's all there, and it was pretty damn cool to watch the entire audience squirm during the last ten minutes of "Bastard".

Visually, the movie is utterly stunning. I could ramble on and on about the stark black and whites, the brief color plays, the white-outesque blood, and all the rest (watch the eyes on the chicks...), but why bother? The visuals speak for themselves. Great, beautiful, kick ass flick. I'll probably watch it again this week.