Sin City

[triskellian]

I think that's the first time I've walked out of a cinema during a film and not gone back. I made it as far as the bit where Elijah Wood is tied to a tree with the stumps of his limbs oozing blood, and a dog is summoned to eat him alive before deciding that, no, I really wasn't enjoying this, and the gorgeous design in no way made up for the content. This morning I still have a nasty taste in my brain.

I'm trying to work out how Sin City's relentless, vicious violence is worse than that of Kill Bill, which I liked. It may be something to do with the constant nudity and helplessness of all the women and the fact that even the one woman [in the part I saw] who stood up for herself ended up knocked unconscious by the hero 'for her own protection'; it may be something to do with the fact that none of the characters seemed in any way human or real. It may be simply that the section I saw contained several vignettes which were insufficiently linked and none of which made me care what happened next. Which is a shame, 'cos I usually like the interlinked vignette form.

But on the upside, the film may have distracted me from the lure of a permanent account and 100 icons and therefore saved me $150. The fact that the upside of Sin City is that I've got 50 icons less than I might have is probably as big an indicator of my opinion as the fact that I walked out.

Comments

[a-llusive.livejournal.com]

I'd be really surprised if they make anything like this again.

Anything similar would either be dire or naff due to oversimilarity/being stuffed up. They were very fortunate to get the right cast and the have a team which achieved the right balance this time.

Also, that would bring up the possibility of Sandman films, which I never want to see.

[markbanang.livejournal.com]

Well there's plenty of material left in the comics. Sin City 2 is already in pre-production and Sin City 3 has been announced.

Sorry you couldn't stomach it Liz, the Violence is pretty nasty, especially the way Marv dealt with Kevin, but it didn't strike me as being any worse than the average Tarantino movie. In many ways, the comic book, noir feel of the film made the violence seem less real for me.

I had far less compassion or interest in the characters in Kill Bill than I has for those in Sin City. The first vignette (called "The customer is always right" apparently) immediately set the scene for the film. Hartigan was easily recognisable as the hard bitten cop who would do anything for the dame (in this case a 12 year old girl he'd never met before). Marv was violent, but with a purpose. He was monstrous, but only to those who were monstrous themselves. Kevins end was poetic justice given what he'd done to his victims, and if anyone else had tried to come between him and his justice, they would have been slapped down too.

I think that the weakest performance was Jessica Alba, she was fine up on stage, but didn't look anything like the young Nancy and didn't really seem to settle into the role. Some of her conversations were rather stilted and she seemed uncomfortable.

Like many others, I hadn't read the comics, so I had no pre-conceptions about the stories. Even so, it was obvious where Becky should have died (I was right to think that she was supposed to die in the shootout) but it was forgivable for her death to be put off until the final scene (off camera). The film was already given a rounded off feel by the fact that the Hartigan & Nancy story was split between then and now, first and last segments.

I hope the nasty taste in your brain has gone now Liz,

Take care,

Mark..........