Force Fed Films: "Sin City" (2005)

 Another week and another film I’ve been forced to watch. A lot of the movies that Jim makes me watch I haven’t heard of before or did not pay much attention to previously. This isn’t the case today, I’ve always known about “Sin City” and the masterpiece that it is. Why I didn’t see “Sin City” before?  I honestly couldn’t answer you, it was always on my ‘to watch’ list but I never got around to it. Generally a car movie will come up and it’ll bump “Sin City” down. And now before my temptation of playing Driver overwhelms me, let me tell you about my feelings about “Sin City”.


The multiple story lines all intertwined with each other. We have Hartigan (Bruce Willis), who is a cop that wants justice to be served on a pedophile that wants Nancy (Jessica Alba). Nancy is not the same innocent girl she was when she was 12. Now 19, she is tough and works as a dancer at a local bar. Nancy will do anything for Marv (Mickey Rourke), who feels that he is responsible for the death of Goldie (Jaime King). Marv goes on a murderous rampage to find out the killer of his lover. He isn’t the only one that seeks revenge, Dwight (Clive Owen) is fed up with the crooked cops and needs to set them straight with some help.

Last thing Haddigan expected is for Nancy to be a pole dancer.

 So yes, the coolest part is that all of the stories are connected and are all told by the respected character the story revolves around at the time. The third person narration is neat, it’s a voice over that is very effective. It really got me in the atmosphere of the movie. The great thing was that all three; Willis, Rourke and Owen are actors with great voices. So those three guys, expressing themselves was fluid and very entertaining.

Now obviously the most eye catching part of the movie is the unique art style of the film. Most of the filmed is in black and white with the exception of a few key characters and symbols. This was neat because it really passes the comic book theme well and that was important for the movie. Why important? Because when it came to the over the top action, it only makes sense.

The hero always gets the girl.

 I say that because the action is very cartoony and comic book like. Men will be beheaded, blood gets sprayed everywhere and of course there is plenty of bullets flying around. Now to say this movie is gruesome is like saying that water is wet. Because in fact it is, very wet. Though seeing that both Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino directed this movie, it wasn’t surprising to see so much violence. Fits the movie well, and I enjoyed it a lot.

As much as I like Bruce Willis, I thought Rourke stole the show. Him playing Marv, a harden criminal that is seeking revenge on a dead hooker, just amazing. I’m not sure if the story made him interesting or it was him that made the story interesting. Whatever the case, his scenes were easily the coolest. He is a badass without a cause. Rourke never ceases to amaze me.

Rourke was the biggest badass in this film, this is saying a lot when you work with Willis.

Though, what I enjoyed the most about this movie is the cyclic storyline. The movie ends where the movie starts at a different point in time. I hate to spoil the movie for the readers who haven’t watched this movie, but when you see it you’ll know what I am talking about. 

If you couldn’t tell by now, it should be apparent that I enjoyed this movie thoroughly. The story warps this movie up in a nice package. The actors do a hell of a job portraying the characters and obviously the art style gets the mood set up as a comic book story. It was the most serious cartoon movie I’ve ever watched. Whatever the hell that means.