‘Sin City’: The noirest of the noir

“Sin City,” the new film “shot and cut” by Robert Rodriguez and co-directed by Frank Miller, the creator of the “Sin City” graphic novels, is a black and white adventure into a morally grey territory where the good guys are former bad guys, the bad guys are the ones who are supposed to be the good guys and the girls are either hard by choice or by circumstance.  It is a rollicking drama, as close to the original frames in the graphic novels as one can possibly get, and a showcase for actors who were once at the top of the game like Mickey Rourke, as well as a stepping stone for those on the rise like Jessica Alba. “Sin City” also happens to be the first great film of the year and if you’re not of the faint at heart, you should take a trip there.

It is in “Sin City,” otherwise known as Basin City, where we meet Marv (Rourke) an ex-con who’s being framed for the murder of Goldie, the only woman who has ever been nice to him. Marv will stop at nothing to find Goldie’s killer, and I mean nothing. Rourke is a revelation beneath all that makeup. His narration fits the tone of the film perfectly, a cross between hard-boiled and hilarious. This is Rourke’s second film with Rodriguez and one hope that this one launches him back into other films.  

After Marv’s story we meet Dwight, another man with a shady past, who defends his new girlfriend from her abusive ex, only to find himself embroiled in a war between ladies of the night, dirty cops and the mob. Clive Owen plays Dwight and is just as perfectly cast as Rourke. He’s both suave and deadly and would be the right fit for that empty 007 suit, even though in this film he’s more hood than super spy. Owen’s Dwight is dashing and noble but he’s also dangerous. He is the type of bad boy that all the girls fall for.

The final story is also the one that kicks off the film. Bruce Willis plays Hartigan, a cop about to retire but set on stopping a senator’s serial-killing son first. Though he saves the girl, his partner double crosses him and Hartigan goes up the river for the killer’s crimes. When he gets out, he goes to save the little girl who has now grown up into a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, he also leads the killer to his former prey. Willis plays this dramatic story like all of his dramatic roles, quiet and intense. It works though, as does Alba, as the sexy ingénue who never forgot the man who saved her life.

These are dirty little stories, sort of like the dime novels and pulp fiction of old. Rodriguez infuses them with the over the top action he brought to films like “El Mariachi” and “Desperado” and stays true to Miller’s dark vision. Shot almost entirely (if not entirely) against a green screen, Rodriguez ups the ante on what “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” did and delivers a much more satisfying film (no disrespect to ‘Sky Captain’, intended). “Sin City” comes to life thanks to Rodriguez and Miller and unlike ‘Sky Captain,’ you’re too busy being entertained to be looking for where you can “see the strings.”

Some performances are better than others in this film, but the good far outweighs the flat. In fact, many of the actors cast are just a joy to watch in their brief roles, especially Elijah Wood as a tough as nails (pun intended) cannibal named Kevin. Rutger Hauer, Powers Boothe and Michael Clarke Duncan also show up with some juicy screen time.

Here’s the warning. This is a hard-R type movie. There is nudity and excessive violence. The blood may be white or yellow for much of the film but body parts haven’t flown off like this since the “Kill Bill” movies and those were rated R for good reason. “Sin City” isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, but if you like your action hard and your comedy black, this will hit the spot for you just right.

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