SIN CITY: In-depth thoughts and review
Apr. 4th, 2005 10:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
thehefnerWelp, now that the weekend's gone by and several people have had the chance to see the movie,
First my complaints. My major complaint was actually what was left out from the original stories, namely some of the quieter moments. There's a scene where Marv picks up Gladys, his gun, at his mother's house, and there's a really nice scene between mother and son, but that was cut out of the film.
There're also a couple scenes in That Yellow Bastard where Hartigan is in the hospital, and his wife is begging him to deny the charges of child molestation and rape, and he has to stay silent and watch her leave him forever. Before, I wouldn't have complained their being left out, but after seeing the movie, I now realize how important they were to the stories. They were the quiet moments, the crucial scenes between the action and violence. It's like MACBETH without the porter, and as such the movie suffered their loss (even if the audience didn't notice).
Take the scene between Hartigan and Nancy in the hotel; it was a wonderful and important little scene that could have been cut out and no one would have been the wiser. They add some more wonderful human elements to the action, and I hope they will be included on the DVD. As such, the movie just felt like action-action-action, and the audience hardly had a chance to catch their breath. It's no wonder so many people leave the movie feeling exhausted.
Also, the acting of some is questionable. Jessica Alba was much better than expected, but I have one major complaint, and that's the fact that she completely failed to convey Nancy's fear and trauma. Nancy's a girl who took this horrible thing that happened to hear as a child and grew into a strong, independent woman, while at the same time still being utterly terrified of that very same trauma. So when she says to the Bastard, "You can't get it up unless I scream. You're pathetic," I realized that, holy shit, that's an extremely powerful and important lines. Alba completely misses that. So when Hartigan's line at the end, "she's herself again," is said, it makes no sense, since Alba's been nobody but perky, sunny, sorority-girl Alba.
Clive Owen's accent. Ok. As I understand it, Owen wasn't even given any preparation for the accent, he was just told to go with it. On that basis alone, his American accent is pretty damn impressive. That said, he did slip several times, but instead of sounding like a fake American accent, it actually sounded like some strange, all-new accent that was a sort of mix of New York and English. It actually worked, somehow.
And at this point, let me just say that I hate the Old Town Whores. Seriously. They're all obnoxious, smug, self-righteous, trigger happy prostitutes who seem ready to blast to pieces anything with a penis. Take, for example, Jackie-Boy (Benicio Del Torro). They had NO REASON to want to kill him and his crew. They were utter bastards, but they did absolutely nothing to provoke the girls. As such, the shit that the Girls find themselves in is their own goddamn fault, and if they hadn't been such trigger-happy harpies they wouldn't have had to have a Big Fat Kill. If Dwight didn't love Gail, he probably wouldn't have given a good goddamn about them, nor should he have. But I digress. That's a complaint about the original stories that transfers over to the movie, and it's thus why BIG FAT KILL is my least favorite Sin City yarn.
Now, I suppose you wonder, did I like the film? The answer is a resounding FUCK YES. God, I was in geek glee, and I was glad to see that in the theater I wasn't alone. A lot of people are already dismissing the film as trash, while others are hailing it as a masterpiece. I can do neither, as I have my own particular biased perspective of the film, but I absolutely fucking loved this movie. Some highlights:
-Mickey Rourke as Marv. Holy fucking shit, I don't think I've ever seen a literary character so brilliantly realized. All that he was lacking was some of Marv's more shouty, angrier moments, but other than that it was near-perfect. Like David Carradine, Rourke will likely be robbed a deserving Academy Award nomination.
-The line "That the best you can do, you pansies?" The audience cheered, and my heart was flooded with glee.
-Rutger Hauer as Cardinal Rourke. Not since BLADE RUNNER (one of the greatest cinematic roles ever, IMO) has the Hauer-meister shone so brightly. He takes the rather one-dimensional (as many... hell, most of SIN CITY's characters are, let's face it) character and imbues him with a strange sort of sympathy. I actually kind of felt sorry for the Cardinal, regardless of all he'd done. The guy wasn't evil like his Senator brother, he's just fucked in the head and pathetic. The added (as in, not in the original comic) line of dialog, "We're going home, Kevin," was kind of affecting, in a bizarre way.
-Elijah Wood as Kevin. Holy shit, that was as awesome and creepy as I knew it would be. My only complaint is that I wanted to see more of him.
-Alexis Bledel. So... damn... hot. Total jailbait hotness. I could really give a thrupenny fuck about Jessica Alba; Becky's where it's at, all the way.
-Benicio Del Torro. As CHUD.com's Devin puts it: "Benicio del Toro, under a pound of rotten make up, however, is a good example of an actor doing a very, very bad job but still being fun to watch. He's very Shatnerian in his short role." I didn't think he was doing a bad job at all, personally, but I'm still amused by the sentiment.
-Michael Madsen as Bob. The critics are generally reviling his performance, and yeah, it wasn't great by any stretch, but there was something about his reappearance near the end. That wasn't in the original comic, it was a different character, but having him there and giving him the extra line "I hated myself for awhile there," was really interesting. Bob was never a repentant character in the book, and now I wonder if maybe that didn't play into his performance. I want to rewatch the movie with that in mind. Also, the guy's been smoking too damn much. We may start calling him Wheezy Joe soon.
-Powers Booth as Senator Roarke. One of the rarer examples of a character looking nothing like his comic counterpart (that would have been Paul Sorvino, who would have ruled in this role too), and he totally made it his own.
-Tarantino's scene (in the car with Jackie Boy and Dwight). The filming technique was subtly different, but I noticed. But what really affected me was Tarantino's specific interpretation of the voice over. I think it was an absolute brilliant masterstroke to have Dwight actually delivering the internal monologue out loud, since in the scene all sorts of stuff is happening in his head that's being acted out. In a movie that didn't take too many chances outside of what the comic itself did, it was a masterful artistic move that made it stand alone and apart from the comic. I kinda wish there were more scenes like that.
-The Voice Overs. Lesson number one of all screenwriting schools seems to be, "never use voice overs; show, don't tell," but at the same time, without voice overs it just wouldn't have been Sin City, so I was wondering how they'd pull it off. And they did it with some excellent and surprisingly elegant voice acting. Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, and Bruce Willis would be right at home reading books on tape or doing "This American Life," on NPR. They all surprised the hell out of me, and even though I loved them all before, I have newfound respect for all three. Hell, even Josh Hartnett.
-That Yellow Bastard. Every bit as slimy, smelly, putrid, and weaslly as the character's meant to be. The body prosthetics looked kinda plastic-y, but the facial makeup was surprisingly natural-looking, and it really worked.
-Nicky Katt as Stuka (the skinhead with the sunglasses and the swastika on his forehead). I've always loved him from his smarmy performances in BOSTON PUBLIC, THE LIMEY, and WAY OF THE GUN, and I was happy enough to see his cameo here. Knowing the character, I was prepared for a fun time, but not even I was prepared for his delivery of the single funniest line in the entire film: "Heyyyy..." I'm laughing again even as I write this.
That's all I have for now, and I can't wait to see it again and several times. I don't know what anyone else thought about it, but I sincerely hope it affects each and every one of you deeply, and in the good way. And though I'm sure it probably won't, I also really hope it provokes some interest in the comics and graphic novels in general. If you saw the film and would like to know further recommendations, do not hesitate to write me and I'll be more than happy to help you out.
First my complaints. My major complaint was actually what was left out from the original stories, namely some of the quieter moments. There's a scene where Marv picks up Gladys, his gun, at his mother's house, and there's a really nice scene between mother and son, but that was cut out of the film.
There're also a couple scenes in That Yellow Bastard where Hartigan is in the hospital, and his wife is begging him to deny the charges of child molestation and rape, and he has to stay silent and watch her leave him forever. Before, I wouldn't have complained their being left out, but after seeing the movie, I now realize how important they were to the stories. They were the quiet moments, the crucial scenes between the action and violence. It's like MACBETH without the porter, and as such the movie suffered their loss (even if the audience didn't notice).
Take the scene between Hartigan and Nancy in the hotel; it was a wonderful and important little scene that could have been cut out and no one would have been the wiser. They add some more wonderful human elements to the action, and I hope they will be included on the DVD. As such, the movie just felt like action-action-action, and the audience hardly had a chance to catch their breath. It's no wonder so many people leave the movie feeling exhausted.
Also, the acting of some is questionable. Jessica Alba was much better than expected, but I have one major complaint, and that's the fact that she completely failed to convey Nancy's fear and trauma. Nancy's a girl who took this horrible thing that happened to hear as a child and grew into a strong, independent woman, while at the same time still being utterly terrified of that very same trauma. So when she says to the Bastard, "You can't get it up unless I scream. You're pathetic," I realized that, holy shit, that's an extremely powerful and important lines. Alba completely misses that. So when Hartigan's line at the end, "she's herself again," is said, it makes no sense, since Alba's been nobody but perky, sunny, sorority-girl Alba.
Clive Owen's accent. Ok. As I understand it, Owen wasn't even given any preparation for the accent, he was just told to go with it. On that basis alone, his American accent is pretty damn impressive. That said, he did slip several times, but instead of sounding like a fake American accent, it actually sounded like some strange, all-new accent that was a sort of mix of New York and English. It actually worked, somehow.
And at this point, let me just say that I hate the Old Town Whores. Seriously. They're all obnoxious, smug, self-righteous, trigger happy prostitutes who seem ready to blast to pieces anything with a penis. Take, for example, Jackie-Boy (Benicio Del Torro). They had NO REASON to want to kill him and his crew. They were utter bastards, but they did absolutely nothing to provoke the girls. As such, the shit that the Girls find themselves in is their own goddamn fault, and if they hadn't been such trigger-happy harpies they wouldn't have had to have a Big Fat Kill. If Dwight didn't love Gail, he probably wouldn't have given a good goddamn about them, nor should he have. But I digress. That's a complaint about the original stories that transfers over to the movie, and it's thus why BIG FAT KILL is my least favorite Sin City yarn.
Now, I suppose you wonder, did I like the film? The answer is a resounding FUCK YES. God, I was in geek glee, and I was glad to see that in the theater I wasn't alone. A lot of people are already dismissing the film as trash, while others are hailing it as a masterpiece. I can do neither, as I have my own particular biased perspective of the film, but I absolutely fucking loved this movie. Some highlights:
-Mickey Rourke as Marv. Holy fucking shit, I don't think I've ever seen a literary character so brilliantly realized. All that he was lacking was some of Marv's more shouty, angrier moments, but other than that it was near-perfect. Like David Carradine, Rourke will likely be robbed a deserving Academy Award nomination.
-The line "That the best you can do, you pansies?" The audience cheered, and my heart was flooded with glee.
-Rutger Hauer as Cardinal Rourke. Not since BLADE RUNNER (one of the greatest cinematic roles ever, IMO) has the Hauer-meister shone so brightly. He takes the rather one-dimensional (as many... hell, most of SIN CITY's characters are, let's face it) character and imbues him with a strange sort of sympathy. I actually kind of felt sorry for the Cardinal, regardless of all he'd done. The guy wasn't evil like his Senator brother, he's just fucked in the head and pathetic. The added (as in, not in the original comic) line of dialog, "We're going home, Kevin," was kind of affecting, in a bizarre way.
-Elijah Wood as Kevin. Holy shit, that was as awesome and creepy as I knew it would be. My only complaint is that I wanted to see more of him.
-Alexis Bledel. So... damn... hot. Total jailbait hotness. I could really give a thrupenny fuck about Jessica Alba; Becky's where it's at, all the way.
-Benicio Del Torro. As CHUD.com's Devin puts it: "Benicio del Toro, under a pound of rotten make up, however, is a good example of an actor doing a very, very bad job but still being fun to watch. He's very Shatnerian in his short role." I didn't think he was doing a bad job at all, personally, but I'm still amused by the sentiment.
-Michael Madsen as Bob. The critics are generally reviling his performance, and yeah, it wasn't great by any stretch, but there was something about his reappearance near the end. That wasn't in the original comic, it was a different character, but having him there and giving him the extra line "I hated myself for awhile there," was really interesting. Bob was never a repentant character in the book, and now I wonder if maybe that didn't play into his performance. I want to rewatch the movie with that in mind. Also, the guy's been smoking too damn much. We may start calling him Wheezy Joe soon.
-Powers Booth as Senator Roarke. One of the rarer examples of a character looking nothing like his comic counterpart (that would have been Paul Sorvino, who would have ruled in this role too), and he totally made it his own.
-Tarantino's scene (in the car with Jackie Boy and Dwight). The filming technique was subtly different, but I noticed. But what really affected me was Tarantino's specific interpretation of the voice over. I think it was an absolute brilliant masterstroke to have Dwight actually delivering the internal monologue out loud, since in the scene all sorts of stuff is happening in his head that's being acted out. In a movie that didn't take too many chances outside of what the comic itself did, it was a masterful artistic move that made it stand alone and apart from the comic. I kinda wish there were more scenes like that.
-The Voice Overs. Lesson number one of all screenwriting schools seems to be, "never use voice overs; show, don't tell," but at the same time, without voice overs it just wouldn't have been Sin City, so I was wondering how they'd pull it off. And they did it with some excellent and surprisingly elegant voice acting. Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, and Bruce Willis would be right at home reading books on tape or doing "This American Life," on NPR. They all surprised the hell out of me, and even though I loved them all before, I have newfound respect for all three. Hell, even Josh Hartnett.
-That Yellow Bastard. Every bit as slimy, smelly, putrid, and weaslly as the character's meant to be. The body prosthetics looked kinda plastic-y, but the facial makeup was surprisingly natural-looking, and it really worked.
-Nicky Katt as Stuka (the skinhead with the sunglasses and the swastika on his forehead). I've always loved him from his smarmy performances in BOSTON PUBLIC, THE LIMEY, and WAY OF THE GUN, and I was happy enough to see his cameo here. Knowing the character, I was prepared for a fun time, but not even I was prepared for his delivery of the single funniest line in the entire film: "Heyyyy..." I'm laughing again even as I write this.
That's all I have for now, and I can't wait to see it again and several times. I don't know what anyone else thought about it, but I sincerely hope it affects each and every one of you deeply, and in the good way. And though I'm sure it probably won't, I also really hope it provokes some interest in the comics and graphic novels in general. If you saw the film and would like to know further recommendations, do not hesitate to write me and I'll be more than happy to help you out.
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no subject
Date: 2005-04-05 05:48 am (UTC)Some thoughts on Big Fat Kill
Date: 2005-04-05 01:59 pm (UTC)Based on the rules that Frank seems to have set up for Sin City, I think that's exactly the right time to kill everyone in the car, especially in Old Town.
I also found it interesting, that for all their anti-men posturing, every crotch/groin injury in the movie was inflicted by another man. I will say that Frank seems to keep women on a higher pedastal (does anything good deed happen in that town that isn't inspired by a woman????) than men, but it's interesting the way the genders only seem to go after their own (assuming Gail hired the Salesman at the end).
That's what I loved about this movie- every hour of film seems to leave open two hours of conversation and interpretation. For me, that's a good definition of art.
Re: Some thoughts on Big Fat Kill
Date: 2005-04-05 06:15 pm (UTC)but Heffie.. other than the Old Town girls, you know i agree with most everything you've said here. i was just too lazy to go into depth.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-06 06:31 am (UTC)I loved the Old Town Whores though... sorry.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-06 05:46 pm (UTC)That said, I really would like you to check out the comics sometime, if only to see how amazing Frank Miller's art is, and how closely the movie matched up.
no subject
Date: 2005-04-07 05:26 am (UTC)And I don't think Brittany Murphy's acting was crappy in that line at all. It would have been bad if she had tried to say it seriously. But she didn't. She acknowledged the fact that it was corny as hell and enjoyed the hell out of being corny as hell with it- and it was great!