EdvardMunch
04-03-2005, 12:38 PM
http://us.movies1.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/dimension_films/sin_city/alexis_bledel/sincity1.jpg
I did! What a fun time.
I've heard comments to the effect of "Great visuals, cardboard characters, bad story", which I disagree with (well, except the visuals).
True, the characters aren't that great, but to think this movie is about characters and plot is to miss the point. This movie is about Sin City, it's about a town of perpetual darkness populated by badguys and badguys who aren't as bad as other badguys. Badguys run the town, badguys defend it, and badguys live in it. This movie is all about immersing us in the world where film noir never died. That's why a single story filtered through the eyes of one or two characters could never do this movie justice.
As for the stories (this movie isn't one story, it's a few short stories), I thought they were great. They were grisly and sick and original and fascinating, not to mention that each story contained at least one great plot twist. Since the focus is more on atmosphere than emotion, you can expect to not be moved by anything that happens (although I didn't like seeing the death of one of the characters). It's true that none of the stories could have done well if feature-length so duh, that's why they aren't feature-length.
With that in mind, how much do we want to inhabit Sin City? It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't wanna live there. Stylistically, this movie is just beautiful. The stylized black and white exposes how little shadows are used in film these days, and they also effectively cover up the CGI. Whereas Sky Captain's CGI wasn't good enough, and you knew you were watching backdrops throughout the entire movie, I didn't realize I was watching backdrops until the movie was over, despite that there were plenty of scenes that only could have been done with backdrops.
The CGI isn't just put to use with backdrops. CGI touches are flawlessly added to characters to the point that in certain scenes, like a fight scene (a fight with a certain serial killer comes to mind), it becomes impossible to see when a character has been switched out (as opposed to Matrix Reloaded, when you could tell Keanu had been replaced because his acting was better).
CGI is also used to add little splashes of color. In the picture above, we see Becky's blue eyes. There's also Goldie's golden hair, the yellow bastard's yellow skin, the color of blood. The occassional colors don't detract from the style and make us aware that we are watching B&W, they only add to the overall visual look. In this movie, to be colored seems to represent a sense of innocence or goodness. This is not to say that anyone who is colored is necessarily good or innocent, but it seems to be the effect that was aimed for.
However, the atmosphere of Sin City is not contained in its style. It's also contained in its content. If Christian movie review site capalert.com's review of Sin City is any indication (Read the review here (http://www.capalert.com/capreports/sincity.htm)) this movie features damn near everything under the sun and long repressed in our imaginations. Too many Darwin Awards are issued (keep in mind you don't necessarily need to be killed to win a Darwin Award), and people die in every imaginable way. I'd rather not spoil some of the great deaths (and just about everyone has a great death) but I think it's enough to say, if you're a murderer, you'll get some new ideas from this flick. The action is just disgusting and funny and excellent.
Despite my rave, this movie's format of having a few short stories does limit it. The stories and characters cannot go very deep. As said before, the characters are nothing special (though the actors do an amazing job at implying depth, especially Mickey Rourke as Marv, who is, more or less, a human tank) and the plots aren't so much stories as they are experiences by the characters. By movie's end, the town itself retains much of its mystery, as we learn more about some of the people who run the city and not so much how it works. This criticism might be subsided by any potential sequals, since Robert Rodriguez has said he wanted to direct the rest of Frank Miller's stories at some point.
Sin City is a great experience. With breakneck pacing, we enter a city that we should be thankful doesn't exist in the real world. This movie is like waking up in a nightmare and enjoying it. Eventually you will wake up and forget the dream, but while you're there, you'll feel the ultimate rush.
I did! What a fun time.
I've heard comments to the effect of "Great visuals, cardboard characters, bad story", which I disagree with (well, except the visuals).
True, the characters aren't that great, but to think this movie is about characters and plot is to miss the point. This movie is about Sin City, it's about a town of perpetual darkness populated by badguys and badguys who aren't as bad as other badguys. Badguys run the town, badguys defend it, and badguys live in it. This movie is all about immersing us in the world where film noir never died. That's why a single story filtered through the eyes of one or two characters could never do this movie justice.
As for the stories (this movie isn't one story, it's a few short stories), I thought they were great. They were grisly and sick and original and fascinating, not to mention that each story contained at least one great plot twist. Since the focus is more on atmosphere than emotion, you can expect to not be moved by anything that happens (although I didn't like seeing the death of one of the characters). It's true that none of the stories could have done well if feature-length so duh, that's why they aren't feature-length.
With that in mind, how much do we want to inhabit Sin City? It's a great place to visit, but I wouldn't wanna live there. Stylistically, this movie is just beautiful. The stylized black and white exposes how little shadows are used in film these days, and they also effectively cover up the CGI. Whereas Sky Captain's CGI wasn't good enough, and you knew you were watching backdrops throughout the entire movie, I didn't realize I was watching backdrops until the movie was over, despite that there were plenty of scenes that only could have been done with backdrops.
The CGI isn't just put to use with backdrops. CGI touches are flawlessly added to characters to the point that in certain scenes, like a fight scene (a fight with a certain serial killer comes to mind), it becomes impossible to see when a character has been switched out (as opposed to Matrix Reloaded, when you could tell Keanu had been replaced because his acting was better).
CGI is also used to add little splashes of color. In the picture above, we see Becky's blue eyes. There's also Goldie's golden hair, the yellow bastard's yellow skin, the color of blood. The occassional colors don't detract from the style and make us aware that we are watching B&W, they only add to the overall visual look. In this movie, to be colored seems to represent a sense of innocence or goodness. This is not to say that anyone who is colored is necessarily good or innocent, but it seems to be the effect that was aimed for.
However, the atmosphere of Sin City is not contained in its style. It's also contained in its content. If Christian movie review site capalert.com's review of Sin City is any indication (Read the review here (http://www.capalert.com/capreports/sincity.htm)) this movie features damn near everything under the sun and long repressed in our imaginations. Too many Darwin Awards are issued (keep in mind you don't necessarily need to be killed to win a Darwin Award), and people die in every imaginable way. I'd rather not spoil some of the great deaths (and just about everyone has a great death) but I think it's enough to say, if you're a murderer, you'll get some new ideas from this flick. The action is just disgusting and funny and excellent.
Despite my rave, this movie's format of having a few short stories does limit it. The stories and characters cannot go very deep. As said before, the characters are nothing special (though the actors do an amazing job at implying depth, especially Mickey Rourke as Marv, who is, more or less, a human tank) and the plots aren't so much stories as they are experiences by the characters. By movie's end, the town itself retains much of its mystery, as we learn more about some of the people who run the city and not so much how it works. This criticism might be subsided by any potential sequals, since Robert Rodriguez has said he wanted to direct the rest of Frank Miller's stories at some point.
Sin City is a great experience. With breakneck pacing, we enter a city that we should be thankful doesn't exist in the real world. This movie is like waking up in a nightmare and enjoying it. Eventually you will wake up and forget the dream, but while you're there, you'll feel the ultimate rush.