A review by John Chard

Written by John Chard on 2014-09-18

Visceral, Visionary, Visual, Sin City kicks the big un! Three grizzled stories from Basin City comprise the basis for Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic novels (Miller along for co-directing duties as well). Man mountain Marv is out to avenge a murdered hooker, Dwight attempts to help the red light girls stay independent from the mob, and aging cop Hartigan is trying to protect a beautiful dancer from a sadistic pervert. I think the first thing I should say is that I have no frame of reference as regards the adaptation here, I have never read (or seen) a Frank Miller story, but from what I can gather from the IMDb site is that fans of Miller's graphic stories were well pleased with the final result. I'm pleased to see that, because too many times comic book adaptations are roundly panned by the hard core fan base of each respective franchise for not being close to the spirit of the source, so here I'm doubly relieved mainly because I find Sin City to be a majestic assault on the senses. Sin City is a stark place, full of seedy residents thriving on misery and mistrust, and here we are privy to three stories that only serve to remind us that we don't want to be anywhere near the place. Playing out as some sort of horror comic noir, Sin City is for sure a very violent picture, yet the violence is formed so perfectly in its style, it cloaks the film in artistic class. Once viewed, Sin City is never forgotten, and I for one literally do tip my hat towards Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez for bringing such a great and interesting movie to the masses. All of the cast do great work, so I'll not single anyone out for praise, the techniques and the whole structure of the piece is quite simply marvellous, and as for the writing? Well get a load of it! Sin City, a dark horrible place, Sin City, a wonderful wonderful movie. 9/10