The film opens with a short scene starring Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton based on the Sin City short story, The Customer is Always Right. The soft wind instruments and dark setting establish the tone for the rest of the film. The audience hears beautiful dialogue brought to a close by a gunshot. This close relationship between beauty and death reflects the world in which the film takes place, a world where violence and socially unacceptable behaviour is the norm. .
Sin City, with its film noir style is unlike most of the comic book adaptations that have come out in recent years. This may be because Sin City is unlike most well known comics. The main protagonists do not take on the role of traditional heroes, it can be argued that no character is particularly good but this does not stop them from being liked by the audience. One could argue that they fit Aristotle's criteria of a 'tragic hero', people not necessarily good, nor necessarily bad. Sin City is truer to its original medium the most adaptations to the point where the shots were planned using the panels from the novels as storyboards, this is apparent if you look at the graphic novels.
The opening scene is not necessarily an integral part of any story in the film (except a short scene towards the end) so it can be said that, "The Customer is Always Right" is not the first story of the film. The opening scene was the bargaining chip that director Robert Rodriguez used to convince the creator Frank Miller, to allow the film to be made. Sin City consists of three stories beginning with "That Yellow Bastard"  stars Bruce
Willis as John Hartigan, a police officer attempting to solve his last case and save a little girl before retiring. With a town filled with crocked cops, a rapist with a father in high position and a 'bum ticker', Hartgan's chances of success are slim. It could be argued that "That Yellow Bastard" is not the first story either, at least, not the first full length story. Hartigan is revisited later.
The first full length story is entitled, "The Hard Goodbye", which tells us of Marv, a less than attractive and dangerous ex-con who set out find to find the people behind the murder of Goldie, a 'goddess' willing to show Marv a good time. Marv is tragic character, he murders, yet one cannot help but pity him. As the audience is constantly reminded, he gets confused sometimes suggesting that Marv has some form of mental illness. Marv's story, takes the audience all around (Ba)Sin City and unravels the corruption within it.
Mickey Rourke is almost unrecognisable in this role not just due to the make-up used to make him look more like his comic book counterpart. Rourke convincingly portrays Marv's unstoppable violent side as well as that of a confused man questioning his actions. Rourke's performance as Marv makes one forget that Marv is a fictional character. Jaime King glows in her role as Goldie, Marv calls her a goddess and she most certainly has the aura of one. King also plays another contrasting role fantastically but any further information would be too much.
"The Hard Goodbye" is followed by "The Big Fat Kill" featuring Barmaid Shellie and boyfriend Dwight, a criminal with a new face whose one fingerprint check away from being set to the gas chamber. The story is set into motion when Dwight sets off to stop Jackie Boy, Shellie's angry ex from causing any trouble. Dwight's intentions are hindered when her realises that Jackie Boy is heading for Old Town, a place where the ladies are the law and Dwight's ex, Gail (Rosario Dawson) dwells.
Clive Owen convincingly pulls off the role of the dark and brooding Dwight. The aspect of his performance that can be faulted is his accent which makes it unclear as the where he, or the character is from. Rosario Dawson manages to embrace the vicious aspects of Gail's character but at the same time is able to play someone in admiration with an ex-lover.
We are then taken back to, "That Yellow Bastard" which shows Hartigan again attempting the save Nancy, now 19, from the same rapist. Hartigan is not the action hero role we are accustomed to in the traditional sense, he's is a less than healthy old man, doing his best to finally close his case.
Like Rourke, Willis portrays a tragic hero who compellingly portrays the violent aspects of his character as well as man with the flaws of any other human. Jessica Alba plays 19 year old Nancy. Alba presents us with a girl as fearful as the 11 year old Nancy seen earlier in the film. However, she is also able to contrast this, at times with short scenes, with the sexually assertive side of Nancy.
One cannot speak of Sin City without mentioning the aesthetics of it. Like most film noirs, Sin City is in black and white, providing an homage to classic film noirs as well as adding an element of greater sharpness to the film. Some objects, such as Goldie are colorized, this is partially taken from the graphic novels but some objects colorized in the film were not colorized in the novels. Sin City was shot on a digital backlot meaning that the it was all shot on a green screen. Some locations were built such as Kadie's Bar.
Sin City also has an amazing soundtrack that greatly supports the film. The tracks do not necessarily need to be heard with the film to sound good. The track that plays during the title menu is one that you may find yourself listening to on a loop before you begin watching the film.
The Sin City Collectors edition features commentary with directors Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez in which the graphic novels and the translation from graphic novel to film is mainly discussed. It also features commentary with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. In this commentary Rodriguez mainly discusses the technical aspects and style of the film. Tarantino is not present for the whole commentary, he only provides commentary during the scene (in The Big Fat Kill ) that he directed. It is also possible to watch the film with the reactions of the Austin audience as an audio track, this can be quite annoying and distract you form the film. Disc one also features clips on How Rodriguez got Frank Miller to make the film, Tarantino's part as a guest director, the cars of Sin City, the costumes of Sin City, the make-up of sin City as well as trailers for the film.
Disc two features the Extended Re-Cut Chronological Version with an introduction from Robert Rodriguez. Rodriguez also provides a 10 minute film school where you can attempt to try out the effects used in Sin City yourself. Disc two also includes an all green version of the film, you may have guess that this would be quite boring to watch so luckily, it's is in high speed. On disc two you will also find 17 minutes worth of Tarantino's segment and strangely a 10 minute cooking school.
All in all Sin City is a film the is definitely worth watching and the Collectors edition is a version that has all the special features that you could desire.
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