Sin City! FINALLY!!!
Without a doubt, this is the best and most faithful adaptation of a comic book into a film. The performances are generally excellent all around. The real standouts are Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro, and Elijah Wood. He's just perfect as the silent, creepy Kevin. Above them all, however, towers Mickey Rourke's Marv. That man is not acting, he BECOMES Marv in this film. This is honestly one of the greatest performances I have seen on film in the past few years. The cinematography, special effects, music, every aspect of this film is near-perfect. Even small things, such as the minute details of Marv and Goldie's room in the overhead shot near the beginning of "The Hard Goodbye," and the homeless woman passed out by the trash when Marv smashes through the window, are all present. These are things that only people who have devoted a lot of time to reading the comics will notice, but they went that extra mile to put them all in there.
Of all the stories, "That Yellow Bastard" has the most 40's noirish feel to it. That's definitely approtpriate, since Bruce Willis's Hartigan is very much in the tradition of tough-as-nails cops with uncompromising values and integrity. Even the normally disappointing Jessica Alba is good here.
A few tiny, nitpicking negatives: Clive Owen's accent slips a couple of times. The injection of small bits of humor seems very forced and out of place a few times, such as the "Yeesh!" reaction in "The Big Fat Kill." There were a few great lines from the comics that I was disappointed to see have been left out of the movie. Certainly not necessary lines, but they would have been great to see all the same. There are a few continuity differences from the books-- for instance, Dwight showing up in Kadie's with his new face in "The Hard Goodbye," when he didn't actually get it until later on in the comics-- but those are all understandable, since they work better within the context of the film.
All things considered, this is a magnificent work of film. It's a towering achievement, and everyone involved has done fantastic work here. I saw it twice yesterday with different groups of people, and I would have gladly sat through it again. I sincerely hope it does well enough for Miller and Rodriguez to film the other Sin City stories, as they both want to do so.
Of all the stories, "That Yellow Bastard" has the most 40's noirish feel to it. That's definitely approtpriate, since Bruce Willis's Hartigan is very much in the tradition of tough-as-nails cops with uncompromising values and integrity. Even the normally disappointing Jessica Alba is good here.
A few tiny, nitpicking negatives: Clive Owen's accent slips a couple of times. The injection of small bits of humor seems very forced and out of place a few times, such as the "Yeesh!" reaction in "The Big Fat Kill." There were a few great lines from the comics that I was disappointed to see have been left out of the movie. Certainly not necessary lines, but they would have been great to see all the same. There are a few continuity differences from the books-- for instance, Dwight showing up in Kadie's with his new face in "The Hard Goodbye," when he didn't actually get it until later on in the comics-- but those are all understandable, since they work better within the context of the film.
All things considered, this is a magnificent work of film. It's a towering achievement, and everyone involved has done fantastic work here. I saw it twice yesterday with different groups of people, and I would have gladly sat through it again. I sincerely hope it does well enough for Miller and Rodriguez to film the other Sin City stories, as they both want to do so.