"Then it is dark; a night where kings in golden suits ride elephants over the mountains." - John Cheever

Friday, May 27, 2005

Sin City

Sometimes even I win things....such as an xfm competition to see "Sin City" at The Rex, which is an "exclusive members club with cinema" in Soho. Well, I'd planned to see the film anyway, and oh, might as well admit it, I was also enticed by the phrase "The film is to be introduced by Brittany Murphy and Jessica Alba so you won't want to be late." Hah! Yeah, a video introduction...how cheated do I feel....

Sin City is an adaptation of the comic book (or graphic novel, if you prefer ;) . It's all guns and girls and one-liners in the midst of mayhem. There isn't really a great deal to say about the film, since it's pretty much what you'd expect a (good) comic book adaptation to be: nothing too deep and meaningful, but plenty of action. It also has a weird and wonderful look, which at times leaves you wondering whether it's live action, CGI or animation. Most of the film is monochrome with colour used sparingly (a girl's eyes; blood on a face) which makes for some stunning visuals.

One problem I did have with the film is that I kept expecting the stories to merge at some point and they don't. It's more like "Tales from Sin City" where the viewer is given glimpses of the life of these weird characters.

Not one for the kiddies, it's unashamedly violent and old fashionedly sexist, in a film noir sense. Excellent fun.

4 comments:

John said...

seen a few of the visuals - looks pretty impressive. i think one of the problems a lot of these kind of movies (comic book / sci-fi) are having these days is getting beyond the stunning graphics and telling a decent story.

John said...

actually, on the subject of comic book adaptations, i'm really looking forward to this one.

Col said...

Yeah, should be good. My friend Phil interviewed Christian Bale about it, and seems to think it will be ok.

Good effort seumas - I haven't won anything since I got a library book when I was 12. And £50 on the Premium Bonds.

Shame about Brittany

Tom said...

Excellent review - crisp, informed, very thorough and reasonable. Since becoming a dad in 2003 I have made it to the cinema 4 times, so film reviews, rather than films, have become one of my most important forms of entertainment!