SIN CITY
Directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez
Certificate 18

THIS series of interconnected violent stories – one of which is guest directed by Quentin Tarantino – are amazing.
No wonder: with Frank Miller adapting his own graphic novels of the torrid Sin City for the screen and brought onboard as a co-director by Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Desperado, El Mariachi), you know this is a film like no other.
In fact, Rodriguez was told he couldn’t bring Miller on as a co-director by the Director’s Guild – so Rodriguez merely gave up his membership in the guild. That’s how passionate he was to keep this unique vision complete.
The line uttered by Mickey Rourke’s prosthetically-enhanced character Hartigan, “It’s going to be blood for blood – and by the gallon. These are the old days, the bad days, the all-or-nothing days,” aptly sums up the feel of this brutal world.
Rourke, who is an underrated actor, plays Hartigan, the best character with the consistent story of a man whose fight to avenge the death of a gorgeous prostitute is ultimately just about creating pain and death for others – but only those who deserve it.
This crime anthology captures and distils the essence of film noir by illustrating it with amazing comic book images.
There’s not much morality here, but there are a lot of stars – Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis and an almost unrecognisable Benicio Del Toro.
The stylish, visual and definitely comic book effects of Sin City are dazzling and original and will leave you feeling breathless at first.
But style ain’t everything and some of these tales don’t hold up in an emotional or logical sense.
Still, how often will you see Elijah Wood as a seedy maniacal killer? And it isn’t often we get to see Rutger Hauer, Brittany Murphy or model Devon Aoiki in such amazing roles?