Sin City (Single Widescreen Version)

 

Picture: B+     Sound: B+     Extras: D     Film: A+

 

 

I’ve seen every big film in the theater this year and a good number of foreign and independent films and I am proud to say that Sin City (2005) is the best film that I’ve seen in the Cinema this year.  I’m not saying that because I’m a huge fan of the graphic novels, honestly I didn’t know that they even existed until I heard about this film.  It’s not due to the fact that I am an incredibly huge fan of both Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez.  I think this way because Sin City is unlike anything I have ever seen before.  And for me, as a digital filmmaker, a promise of the freedom to do whatever I want – cheaply - (Sin City was made for a mere 40 million) and the promise of being able to use your imagination to the fullest.  Sin City to me is the dawn of a new age of cinema.  It’s groundbreaking, clever, beautiful, sexy, and pretty damn violent.  Most of all, it’s entertaining and a film that I will watch for the rest of my life.

 

 

 

Sin City is an anthology film of sorts, with four intertwining story lines that come full circle Pulp Fiction style and tell the tale of hard-boiled mercenaries in the twisted and dirty Basin City.  The first story is of an Old Cop named Hartigan (played by Bruce Willis) who crosses the twisted path of a spoiled daddy boy turned child molester (Nick Stahl) who tortures an innocent eleven year old girl named Nancy.  (Her older gorgeous self, played by Jessica Alba).  The second story is that of a modern gladiator named Marv (Mickey Rourke), who wakes up to the love of his life dead on a heart shaped bed next to him.  Marv makes it his life vow to find the killer no matter what or whom he has to chop through.  The third story is about a serial killer with a new face named Dwight (Clive Owen), who vows to stop a sleazy scumbag from hurting anyone in Old Town, the ghetto of Sin City.  Through Dwight’s story he encounters his old flame and leader of a group of hard ass chicks named Gail (Rosario Dawson) who too is out to kill the same man.  And the fourth story, the shortest of the four, is about a Killer for Hire who infatuates beautiful women and then blows them away in poetic fashion.

 

Every background in the film was shot on green screen.  But unlike the failed Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, the digital world that Sin City creates sells.  Rarely when watching the film, even at home, can you catch bad CGI or backgrounds that didn’t work.  What I like too about Sin City is that the acting is solid throughout unlike many digital features I’ve seen where the acting suffers because the director is too wide eyed with his technology.  Robert Rodriguez is a great storyteller in my opinion, and pays attention to every detail, to the point where you can’t tell what is real and what isn’t but at the same time it’s obvious that none of the film is real.  This is what gives the film replay ability and staying power.  The films beautiful contrasty black and white with a splash of color doesn’t bore you, it keeps your attention and sucks you into its own dimension.

 

                                                                                 

 

The other revolutionary thing about Sin City is that it is a direct translation from the graphic novels that Frank Miller created and is the first time the creator of the comic co-directed the movie.  Every shot is frame from frame the comic, word for word, and is in many ways a living Frank Miller comic.  (Watch for his cameo as the priest in the confession booth that encounters Marv).  I think this works because not everyone is aware of the graphic novels but should be if they like pulp crime stories.  I also feel that the film is in many ways the perfect companion to the graphic novels.  Film is a form of art that everyone in the world likes and everyone in the world has access to.  What better way to tell a great story than to give it the respect it needs in a more universal medium?  And for fans of the comics, they’re not going to be angry because there’s no loss in the translation.  I read an interview once where Rodriguez commented that he just wanted the power to watch Sin City on DVD.  I don’t blame him.

 

As with every Robert Rodriguez film, he had his hands in all of the main parts of the production.  He shoots, cuts, scores, writes, and directs his films. And he’s good at all of those forms.  In my opinion, he’s one of the best cinematographers in Hollywood. His films are very stylized, very fast paced, but most importantly – they’re widescreen films.  They’re the kinds of films that you can enjoy no matter what state of mine you are in. T o see them in their full capacity, however, requires them to be seen on the big screen.  Do I think Sin City has lost anything from the theater to video translation?  Of course.  There’s nothing like seeing thirty or forty girls with machine guns blowing away Michael Clark Duncan on a screen bigger than your house.  But the picture and sound quality on the DVD is nothing to frown at.  The 1:85.1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio is clean and sharp throughout the film.  The colors are excellent - the black and white is high in contrast at key moments of the film once when they need to be to accent certain moments.  Occasionally there’s some slight pixilization in the film here and there which I feel will be corrected when a Blu-Ray title for this is released.  When color hits the black and white screen they pop out bright and gorgeous none of them too bright or too dark.  The yellow skin of the Yellow Bastard, Becky’s aqua colored eyes, Dwight’s bright converse sneakers, and the dark blue on Miho’s outfit are unbeatably strong.

 

 

The DTS track on this disc is excellent and better than the Dolby Digital 5.1, though both have a sort of slight twiddle distortion throughout.  Even with that problem, the DTS is superior and has less of it than the Dolby.  The sounds of passing cop cars, the firing of weapons, and the slush of tar from the tar pit are all clean and loud.  The voice over sticks close to the center speaker and never jump to the rear or bleeds to the side channels.  The score by Robert Rodriguez, John Debney, and Graeme Revell is heard cleanly under the dialogue and over it.  The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is not bad, but I am a huge fan of DTS and feel that DTS the proper way to watch this film.  If you don’t have a DTS Decoder for some reason, don’t fret, because the Dolby Digital will suffice until you get DTS, though it is not as refined.

 

Unfortunately, the extras on this disc are severely lacking due to the fact that Rodriguez didn’t have time to finish the loaded disc, which is coming out later this year.  The only feature it has worth checking out is a promotional behind the scenes look that is a mere seven minutes long and is more clips and praise than it is informative.  The menu screens on this disc are awesome though, keeping the slamming tune “Cells” by Servant heard on the trailer, and integrates both stills from the graphic novel morphed into footage from the film.  For huge fans of the film that can’t wait, pick up this copy.  For devotees that buy only the ultimate disc, don’t fret because it’s coming and I’m sure it’s going to be awe-inspiring.

 

Sin City is riveting entertainment, a pulp thrill ride from start to end and surely has earned its place in the heaven of Pulp Culture.  It exposes its three directors for what they are – film gods that know how to make a damn good movie and make it cheaply.  The hardest decision to make is – which of the five covers do you buy?

 

 

 

 

-   Jamie Lockhart