A definitive list of Sin City's flaws

[madhair60]

[Samface]

I wannnnnna seeeeeeeeeeeee it [/whinge]

[JJ]

Probably seeing it tomorrow. Maybe next week.

[Chigs!]

ooh - how clever of you ^_^

It was an enjoyable flick, despte my strong dislike of gore in films - both this and Kill bill used it well though so it didn't feel unnescescary and gore for gore's sake - if that makes any sense

I liked it much more than Revenge of the Sith, put it that way *shot*

[Smithy]

I want to be Dwight godamit, he was the man...

His red all-stars were cool too

[Tom]

The disadvantage of reading the books the week before seeing the film is that every beat was fresh in my mind. The first hour, the novelty of seeing each panel come to life thrilled, but it slowly wore off. The second hour I unfortunately spent waiting for it to end.

The changes, while VERY few, were made all the more obvious by their rarity. It was only short little bits in Hard Goodbye and Big Fat Kill, but there were huge sections of That Yellow B*****d that were completely omitted. Marv's little scene with his mother, gone. Lucille was completely cut out of Hartigan's story. Hartigan's gut-wrenching final encounter with Senator Roark was missing (it wasn't greatly elaborated upon in the story, I suppose they had a hard time filming it). Huge chunks of monologue throughout the film (which admittedly was overdone a little in the books). A lot of nudity is covered up (specifically Gail and Nancy, plus all the male characters save Hartigan who couldn't be anything but naked and was simply shadowed out), and some of the violence is toned down a little. Dwight with his original face was replaced by Marv when Hartigan finds Nancy again, and his argument is completely removed. Becky's slaughter among the mob is gone for the sake of the final scene - which doesn't make sense to me - why would the girls hire a hitman? Shame, I liked that she went down alongside the Colonel. The fun little image of Marv chasing the mercenary with his axe was not brought to film. Perhaps they could have adapted two stories, instead of three. I certainly would not have been so desperate to get out of the cinema if they had.

And, outside of the opening titles, none of that gorgeous Frank Miller art! Still, it was very well done. I don't think it could have been done much better. But if you think it's flawless then you haven't read the books...

[madhair60]

Judging it as a MOVIE, rather than as an adaptation, it is perfect - can't possibly fault it.

[Ed]

I wouldn't go quite as far as 'perfect'. There's no doubting it's a fine film but if you insist on going hunting for flaws, the leaden dialogue in places and the somewhat random nature of some of the plots (the prostitute turf war in particular didn't really seem to go anywhere) knock points off. And although it commanded its atmosphere well, I can't see it ever being remembered as the "greatest for..." anything specific: it's a jack of many genres, but master of none. As a horror story, it's no "Silence of the Lambs". As a hard-boiled film noir, it's no "The Big Sleep". As a psychological thriller, it's no "Memento". As a gangster story, it's no "The Godfather". And so on. It ducks and weaves a little bit of all these genres, but there's seldom a sense of what "Sin City" is about. The characters are mesmeric but seldom moving. The plots are entertaining but seldom compelling. I don't feel like it has the cohesion of a film with a single plot, but I'm not sure there's enough friction between the plots to make it truly successful as a portmanteau film either. Of course, none of these are massive flaws. Like I said, it's an enjoyable film with a good script, some good characters, solid performances and amazing cinematography. I'm absolutely, utterly beside myself with joy that someone is doing black and white cinema again, and showing its potential. About time. But perfect? Not quite, no. I think "really very good" is quite sufficient for the time being.

[Smithy]

The things I didnt like about the film were generally the things I disliked in the books.

I much perfer the film to the books. While they may have fine artwork they really push the whole postmodern thing too far. Characterisation is near non-existent for many of them. They dont really add more dimensions to what they parody and therefore leave me kind of cold. When its onscreen its much more fresh and original, truely unique when placed next to any other film. If you do the same with the book it feels a bit too close to just being hack crime fiction.

Dark Knight Returns is over rated too, all apart from Carrie Kelly she's brilliant...

[hyperdude]

This sin city movie looks really good I saw the making of it on mtv it's pretty good and i'd love to see it.

[madhair60]

Has everyone seen this yet? You MUST.

[Mambo's Here! Look Busy!]

Im intending to. I was told theres a guy in it that looks like a Ferengi!! It jst looks like its either excellent or really cheesy but judging by what ppl have said it must be the former. I mean, c'mon its Robert Rodriguez! That guy craps excellent movies!!!