Sin City DVD > Reviews > It's just a flesh wound old man!

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?
Story
Characters / Performances
Special Effects
Soundtrack

Advantages:	Incredibly entertaining from start to finish, the cast, THE CAST !
Disadvantages:	Not everybody's cup of blood, may be considered unnecessarily violent

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Thank God, at last a fantastic action film has been released that's key demographic is not hip hop crazed teenagers. With the latest 'hits' being Bad Boys 2, 2 Fast 2 Furious and XXX2 it was only 2 pleasing to see such an intelligent, unique but primarily thoroughly enjoyable film to be released such as Sin City and it is based on that opinion that I have decided to write a review for it.

The first thing that comes to mind when one considers watching this film is the rating, 18. It seems that recently, film making has been more about making money than producing something worth watching, and as a result ratings have fallen to the 15 and 12A categories far more than they used to An extremely obvious example would be the terminator trilogy, going from 18, to 15 and in the end a ghastly 12A which saw the 'termination' of the franchise. However, Sin City has overlooked this money raking craze and rather than numb the film down to an unsatisfactory and boring level, have chucked in all the juicy details to enhance the already brilliant story, resulting in a film that I can only describe as near perfect.

*STORY*

Certainly far more complex than one would expect, this film delves into a number of subplots and is actually quite hard to follow. Similar to the Pulp-Fiction style that was so successful, the film is based on a number of different characters and has a short story for each. Again like Pulp-Fiction, these mini subplots find themselves crossing through with each other to provide a satisfying conclusion to each and plot twists that keep the film running at a thoroughly entertaining level. My guess is that this inspiration came from 'special guest director' Quentin Tarantino who undoubtedly used his flare to aid such a difficult style of film to pull off.
Set in Sin City (which is kind of a given) the film shows the stories of Hartigan, Marv and Dwight, three of the hardest men you could possibly imagine. The inspired casting allows for these characters to truly show their depth and the story is enhanced as a result.In my opinion it is Bruce Willis who steals the show with his extremely cool attitude and conduct, however, it is for the viewer to judge who they think is truly the most exhilarating part of this story.
The film is extremely fun to watch throughout thanks to the dark wit and seemingly invincibility of the characters, lines such as after Bruce Willis gets shot repeatedly 'it's just a flesh wound old man' create a brilliant atmosphere and make the film extremely enjoyable to watch. As for the details of the stories it is hard to say too much with out giving away the plot, the characters primarily have a task to complete in order for things to continue running smoothly, and the manner in which they do this is what makes this film so fantastic.

*DIRECTION*

Certainly not to everyone's appeal, the film is produced in a sort of 'film noir' style, with colour being employed only to emphasise effect. Some may find this irritating for it can be nice just to watch a film that is in colour throughout, however, it is this subtlety in direction that makes the film so unique. The characters each narrate their own parts which is a great effect. It helps to express the situation they are in and adds an extra dimension, it is one of the reasons that the film is so deep and intense. The film is directed by the very capable hands of Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, they combine extremely well and the minor aid given by Tarantino certainly does not go unnoticed as I mentioned earlier.
The violence in the film is not as blatant as many would expect but is more emphasised through cunning direction techniques. The colour of the blood clashes with the black and white and it is also the surprising outbursts of violence that cause attention. Having said this, the film is not with out its disturbing scenes and I am not going to be naive enough to say that none will be offended by it, it is indeed an 18 for a reason.

*CAST*

Certainly one of the extremely positive attributes of this film, the cast suit the characters perfectly. Mickey Rourke does a superb job as Marv, acting to great effect and really doing justice to the character with his intimidating physique and strength.
Probably the best casting was Elijah Wood as the creepy and strange Kevin, mainly due to the fact that he doesn't have any lines, once again, another inspired piece of direction! Clive Owen gives in my mind one of his best performances, both amusing and terrifying and the way in which the film is directed allows for all these tremendous egos to show the talent that they have.
Seeing that there are too many cast members to analyse individually, the entire cast is as follows:
Bruce Willis.... Hartigan
Mickey Rourke.... Marv
Jessica Alba.... Nancy Callahan
Clive Owen....Dwight
Nick Stahl....Roark Jr./Yellow Bastard
Powers Boothe.... Senator Roark
Rutger Hauer.... Cardinal Roark
Elijah Wood... Kevin
Rosario Dawson.... Gail
Benicio Del Toro.... Jackie Boy
Jaime King.... Goldie/Wendy
Devon Aoki.... Miho
Brittany Murphy .... Shellie
Michael Clarke Duncan.... Manute
Carla Gugino.... Lucille

As you can see the cast is fantastic, and that should be enough alone to encourage you to watch this film.

The soundtrack is actually quite pleasing, but is far from the strongest point about this film.. The music certainly fits in perfectly and tops off this all round splendid piece of film making.

I hope now that you can decide whether or not to watch this film based on this review. People that love unique and intelligent films I certainly recommend this to. However, for those who enjoy more the easy going more obvious types of films and are offended by excessive violence I don't think would enjoy this film too much, for it is certainly not aimed at them.