Sin City

"Sin City" is gritty, dirty, sleazy and violent. It's an excellent adaptation of the graphic novels by Frank Miller and even if you haven't read the original material, it's a lot of fun. This anthology film features characters that are memorable and likeable (or despicable) so it will grab your attention and hold on tight the whole way. There are a lot of memorable scenes and lines that are sure to stick with you too but the best part of the film is the art direction and visual style. An element I’m glad they kept from the original source is that the stories are told almost entirely in black and white, with sharp contrast accentuated in many scenes to not only make certain actions more visually striking, but also to make it easy to follow. Then, the movie does something unique. There are dashes of colour in certain scenes to make certain actions and characters even more striking. There's a certain character that is highlighted with the colour yellow. His physical appearance already makes him stand out, but that use of colour makes him feel extra creepy and it's very effective. The sets and character designs (because some characters here are fitted with heavy makeup and prosthetics to make them stand out and look even more unique) make every frame look like a comic book panel, every shot I saw looked like it had been meticulously planned out, like a piece of art you could have framed on your wall. The bold style isn’t just a gimmick though. It’s all blended in seamlessly with the story and helps to reinforce the grittyness and themes of corruption while helping accentuate the prevalent violence of the film. My only real criticism is that some of the performances aren't great (Bruce Willis plays it too low-key) It’s a disappointment considering some of the others are quite good, and not in the ways you would expect either. I had to do a double take when I realised that was Elijah Wood and Mickey Rourke I just saw! It’s a bit of a mixed bag in that department, but everything else is top notch. Once you see “Sin City” you’ll be hard pressed to forget it, and not only because of the visuals. (Extended cut on Blu-ray, August 25, 2012)