Sin City

From the moment I first laid eyes on Sin City it became my favorite film, hands down. The style in which this film was made surpassed any effects driven film I had ever seen before. The unique coloring process, the black and white effects mixed with the use of certain colors (mostly red and blue) on certain objects, made it look and feel as though you were staring at the pages of the original Frank Miller graphic novels. Robert Rodriguez truely brought them to life on the big screen. His unique style of filmmaking made these hard-hitting, action-packed stories so accurate and true to the original material.

The characters in this film were portrayed precisely as you would imagine them in the graphic novels with Mickey Rourke stealing the show as the big brute known as Marv. Bruce Willis also gives a commanding performance as the hard-boiled Detective Hartigan whose primary focus in the film is keeping sweet little Nancy Callahan (portrayed by the always ravishing Jessica Alba) safe and sound by any means necessary. And let's not forget the charismatic Dwight McCarthy played by Clive Owen and his "Warrior Woman" Gail played by Rosario Dawson who both gave great performances as well. Other honorable cast mentions include Benicio Del Toro, Michael Madsen, Jamie King, Brittany Murphy, Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett, Marley Shelton, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carla Gugino, Alexis Bledel and Devon Aoki just to name a few. With an ensemble cast such as this it's easy to see why this movie became such a smash hit in 2005.

***SPOILER ALERT!!!***

The film begins with a small segment from the story "The Customer is Always Right" which stars Marley Shelton as a mobster's ex-girlfriend on the run with a price on her head. She meets Josh Hartnett playing a character simply known as "The Salesmen" on the roof of a skyscraper overlooking Basin City. They share some of Miller's amazing dialouge and a passionate kiss before Hartnett silently shoots her and she dies in his arms. He states, rather blandly, that he will "cash her check in the morning".

This is followed by the first half of the story "That Yellow Bastard" as Hartigan is hot on the trail of Roark Jr. (Nick Stahl), the spoiled son of Senator Roark (Powers Boothe), who has kidnapped little 11-year old Nancy Callahan for his sick little thrills. Hartigan exchanges some dialouge with his partner Bob (Michael Madsen) before knocking him out cold and proceeding on his mission. This segment ends with Hartigan confronting Roark Jr. on the docks and "removing both of his weapons" only to be shot numerous times by his now ex-partner, Bob.

Next we find ourselves smack dab in the story "The Hard Goodbye" with Marv and Goldie making love in a seedy motel room. Marv later wakes up to find Goldie dead, lying next to him in bed and hearing sirens coming fast. A classic setup. Marv then embarks on a crazy journy across Sin City in search for the answers behind Goldie's mysterious death. His search leads him all the way to Cardinal Roark and his creepy "desciple" Kevin (Elijah Wood) who get off on killing and eating down-and-out prostitutes. After savagely killing both Kevin and Cradinal Roark "in the name of a dead hooker" Marv is then handed down the death sentence and dies moments later in the electric chair.

This is then followed by the story "The Big Fat Kill" in which we follow Dwight McCarthy as he chases down hero cop and woman abuser Jacky Boy (Benicio Del Toro) into "Old Town" where the girls are their own enforcers and cops have no say. This wild adventure leads all the way to an allout war between Dwight and the girls of Old Town and the corrupt mafia that wish to take over Old Town.

From here we dive into part two of the "That Yellow Bastard" story where Nancy is now "grown up and filled out" and Hartigan is fresh out of prison trying to track her down. When he finds her he realizes he has put her in even more jeopardy than she was in to begin with. This story ends with Hartigan savagely beating Roark Jr. to death only to turn around and take his own life in the name of Nancy's safety.

And finally the film ends with a quick shot of "The Salesman" offering blue-eyed Becky a cigarette in an elevator only to believe she is his next target.