We watched Sin City last night. At first I didn’t like it much at all, now I’ve warmed up to it a bit. It’s a lot to take in. It’s very violent, and obnoxious, and super cheesy. I think perhaps if I knew the story, I would’ve appreciated it more. I would definitely say it’s a movie for the fans.

I was extremely bored in the beginning, the characters were such crap. The whole high rise scene seemed pointless and the “Hartigan”/”Nancy” story was just silly. I’ve never seen Michael Madsen play such a flat character. By the middle of the film though I was really beginning to take an interest. That’s definitely the best segment. The little wolf-boy character played by Elijah Wood was my favorite.

The part with the street girls was just so over the top and gratuitous. I felt like Clive Owen was playing the same character he does in the BMW movies. And I was so happy that “Miho” didn’t talk. That was nice. The only good thing in that segment was Benicio Del Toro. He’s always a treat.

Then it goes back to the “Hartigan”/”Nancy” story again, and even back to the guy from the high rise scene. By this point I was just praying for it to end.

But, honestly, other than all that, the movie was absolutely stunning. It looked perfect, just like a comic. I love, love, love Rodriguez’s style. The stark black & white scenes were beautiful. And the dramatic pause of the end of some scenes cracked me up. You can just imagine the last frame of a strip. To be continued. I bet it would be fun to do a graphic novel to story board comparison. (hint hint, dvd creators!)

Was it Creepshow that started each story as a comic book then zoomed in on one frame to live action?

I think that upon a second viewing I will enjoy the movie more. Going into it with more understanding of the story and expecting the campiness will probably make it a lot more entertaining. Kind of like how Once Upon a Time in Mexico was. (damn, another Rodriguez film) The first time I saw that I was disappointed. But the second time, since I knew what to expect, I thought it was a lot of fun.

Final verdict - If you go in with low expectations, expect 3000 lbs of cheese, and have a high tolerance for blood and violence, you should have a good time. I’ll definitely buy it when it comes out on DVD. The visuals and the “Marv” segment are worth it. :-)