I know Roger has been creaming in his pants for months over this film, but the early reviews have me enchanted as well. It's very rare that you see a movie hit
Rotten Tomatoes (a world class review network, compiling reviews from registered and published critics) and see it with 100% positive feedback, even if it has been only eight reviews so far.

The buzz is huge. Brilliant film, brilliant cast (damn straight), and amazing cinematography. Some are already calling it 'art'.

It opens worldwide on April 1st. I know I'll be there.

To be honest, I'm not sure what to make of this movie. It looks all style, no substance. I hope I'm wrong.
If I am wrong, this movie will launch the comeback of Mickey Rourke as a bonafide lead actor.

All the reviews I've read haven't even hinted that it's all style and no substance. Most say it's both a genuine film and a work of art.

mmmm... jessica

Just a few snippets from reviews:

Jesus, I can't wait for next Tuesday.

I've read that Australia's release date is May 26th. If this is true, we're almost two months behind its US release.

One classic quote, that really sums the whole movie up:

Anyone seen the movie yet?

I havn't just wish to know how it was.

Most of us are still awaiting its Australian release, I'd say. Although it's been out in the US for a few months, we won't get it until August. I've heard it's best seen on the big screen, so I'm willing to wait.

jessica alba :drool: :drool: :drool:

Just saw it....I don't think i have ever had my mouth drop more times in a movie, and Jessica Alba aint even the hottest broad!! I can say i have never seen anything quite like it. Definitely see it on the big screen. The only downside was getting clocked in the head with a packet of sea fish chips by my girl. I hate sea fish chips.

Due out here in August. Jesus, it's a pain in the ass to have to wait this long for it.

Sin City opens at midnight tonight (Wednesday). Get out and see it. I've seen a few scenes on various behind the scenes shows, and it looks fucking amazing. Worth seeing it at the cinema, I'll wager

Give me the verdict.

FUCKING.....EH!

Will post a review later, but shit, it was awesome

All I've seen from Australian forum reviewers is two word comments.

Fucking awesome.
Fucking amazing.
etc

Yeah, that pretty much does it justice. I've already heard that Sin City 2 is in the works. I, for one, cannot wait.

When time allows, a detailed review will be up.

Wasn't my cup of tea. Some of the dialogue was just comical...although that was probably intentional.

Sin City
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Rating: MA 15+
Cast: Clive Owen, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, and Josh Hartnett

Believe the hype, Sin City is one of the most remarkable achievements in modern film-making from a variety of stand-points. Not only does it contain a magnificent cast and faithfully recreate Frank Miller’s cult series of graphic novels, but the film’s aesthetic beauty is truly magnificent. Whether it be the use of entirely black and white silhouette sequences or the sparing use of colour, Sin City is every bit as much a treat for the eyes as it is a treat for the mind.

For those unfamiliar with Frank Miller’s graphic novels, the world of Sin City is a seedy, corrupt city set in the legendary years of film noir films such as The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep. Unlike these classics, Sin City portrays a city well and truly beyond the bounds of conventional law and sanity. From the corrupt bishop (Rutger Hauer) who rules the city right down to Old Town, where the prostitutes are a law unto themselves. In the tradition of the style, Sin City is populated with a wide variety of corrupt cops, hit-men, femme fatales, cold blooded killers, and in the case of the film’s protagonists, men with some semblance of humanity. The film faithfully recreates the tales of three such men, each based on a different graphic novel. Mickey Rourke re-invents himself in his storyline, whilst Clive Owen is customarily cold and cool in a reproduction of “The Big Fat Kill”. Then there’s Bruce Willis’ cop out for redemption in “That Yellow Bastard”, and all wrapped up nicely by Josh Hartnett as a sophisticated killer from “The Customer is Always Right”. Fans of the comics will be pleased to see the stories are reproduced with amazing faith to the original text, a tribute to both Frank Miller’s presence as a co-director, and Rodriguez’s own appreciation of the text.

For the faint of heart, Sin City definitely isn’t a walk in the park. Whilst the majority of violence is heavily stylised, there’s no covering up the fact it’s a film with multiple castrations, decapitations, and a body count to rival your average Arnold Schwarzenegger action movie. Unlike a Schwarzenegger ‘special’, however, Sin City’s violence feels almost familiar in its extremity. In most other films Mickey Rourke’s vengeance driven sociopath wouldn’t be able to get away with what he does without being the bad guy, yet in Sin City the audience finds itself cheering on his every punch. When Rourke pulls the trigger on yet another pleading bad guy, there’s no feeling that he’s gone to far. Just as we accept the reality of a world where the police have no power over a large portion of the city, we can accept that the good guys aren’t much better than the bad guys they’re killing en masse. And if the good guys are dark heroes, the bad guys are extremely evil. The line between good and evil may be blurred in this film, but the ‘bad guys’ are most certainly the worst kind of bad. Whether it be a cannibal choir boy preying on the city’s prostitutes or Nick Stahl’s incredibly depraved child-molesting serial killer, we always know who the bad guys are in this film. In a way it’s refreshing, not to have to dig through layers of Hollywood to find the action beneath. Sin City starts off at a good pace, and builds to several climaxes as it recounts the stories of three tragic heroes. There’s no happy endings here, nor is there a moral that we can teach the kids. Sin City is a film about bad people fighting with worse people, and there’s little room for sickly sweet Disney-esque moments in between.

From a performance standpoint, Sin City is a brilliant example of what a solid ensemble cast can do. Whilst the critics have raved about the performances of Rourke and Owen, they are more than ably supported by the likes of Benecio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Jessica Alba, Elijah Wood, and Rutger Hauer throughout. Every facet of the film noir world is not only represented, but presented with performances the likes of which would steal the show in other films. Brittany Murphy’s tragic waitress with awful taste in men may play a backseat role to Clive Owen’s cold blooded killer, but it’s no less potent in its delivery. It’s remarkable in that sense, putting it up there with legendary ensemble film, Pulp Fiction, in terms of cast quality.

That said, Mickey Rourke is entirely deserving of all the praise he has received for his role. Playing a brutal psychopath with a heart of gold, Rourke embarks on a no-holds-barred quest for revenge after a kind-hearted prostitute is murdered in his bed. Rourke’s story is the least ‘in depth’ of all, but easily the most brutal, featuring every kind of violence imaginable. Whilst it may come across as excessively brutal to some, the story is probably the most compelling of the entire film. Rourke somehow manages to create a character both immensely dangerous and sympathetic, so much so that he is able to perform atrocities on a par with the very men he is fighting, and still come out looking like the good guy. Likewise, Clive Owen’s character does plenty of ‘bad things’ in his battle to keep Old Town free from the mafia’s hands, but his portion of the film ends with him as close to being a traditional hero as one can be in a world where there’s no clean cut good guys.

Indeed, all three of the major plotlines revolve around powerful male figures in some way protecting the ‘weaker’ female sex. Rourke is out to avenge the murder of a woman, Owen is trying to protect the prostitute community he was once a part of, and Bruce Willis is putting his life on the line to protect the only pure girl he’s ever known, never mind that she’s become a stripper in Old Town since he last saw her. That’s what makes this such a remarkable film; it turns the least glamorous of people into heroes. Not the kind of clean cut heroes that litter our screens today, but gritty, cruel, and in their own twisted way, realistic heroes who aren’t bound by the conventional laws of polite society. Another strong undercurrent in the film is one of proving oneself ‘worthy’. All three men are out to prove themselves to someone or something, and whilst they’re never confronted over their goals, there’s little doubt at the end of their individual storylines that they’ve done what they set out to do.

Beyond the acting and storyline, Sin City is a gorgeous film to behold. Presented mostly in black and white, Sin City’s grey is broken up by occasional flashes of colour, whether that be the red of a crazy hooker’s car or the vibrant yellow of the perverted Yellow Bastard, these ‘dabs’ of colour make for an entirely unique visual experience. Likewise, occasional cuts between film and silhouette allow Rodriguez to present incredibly brutal scenes without making the stomach churn. Essentially, Sin City feels as if you’re watching a live action comic – and the fact it feels that way is a tribute to Rodriguez’ immense directorial ability, and the casts willingness to be completely and utterly controlled by the text. Clive Owen, in an interview with E! stated that it was refreshing to be in a film without room for interpretation. From an audience standpoint, it’s just refreshing to watch a film that doesn’t feel the need to ‘dumb down’ the characters and scenarios that Miller created.

Sin City is the kind of film that will go down as an all time great, and justifiably so. It’s not a perfect film, but these days, very few are. But it sets out to be unique, unrelenting, and different, and it more than achieves those goals.

RATING: 9.5 out of 10