FRANK MILLER'S SIN CITY — *** 1/2 — Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen; in black and white; rated R (violence, gore, profanity, torture, nudity, drugs, vulgarity, sex).
It's no accident that "Frank Miller's Sin City" looks so much like a comic book. Frames of this thriller were composed — with digitally created backgrounds and other gimmicky filmmaking techniques — to look like comics panels in black and white.
The film is based on several comics miniseries done by Miller, and in many ways "Sin City" is a panel-for-panel adaptation by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, who gave a "co-director" credit to Miller.
Those who expect a piece of wholesome movie entertainment along the lines of "Spider-Man" are in for a rude awakening. This is dark, nasty stuff that has a lot more in common with the works of Quentin Tarantino than Stan Lee. It's filled with violent, sexual, profane content, which, as with the "Kill Bill" movies, pushes the R-rated envelope. (Tarantino even "guest-directed" a "Sin City" sequence.)
This is sure to be a divisive film. But fans of dark noir thrillers will probably enjoy it, as will fans of the original comics series since this adaptation tells three different stories, all set in Miller's fictional Basin City.
Street thug Marv (Mickey Rourke) is out to avenge the death of his prostitute love (Jaime King). Dwight (Clive Owen) is trying to prevent a gang war between the police, organized crime and the city's populace of armed prostitutes, led by his ex-girlfriend (Rosario Dawson). And washed-up cop Hartigan (Bruce Willis) wants to stop a psychopathic killer (Nick Stahl) from taking the life of the woman of his dreams (Jessica Alba).
It's not always easy to watch, and it's certainly not for the easily offended. But visually, there's much to enjoy, especially the striking black-and-white imagery offset with periodic, selective bits of colors, such as blood-red lipstick, the blue hues of rain-slicked roads or a gold eye replacement.
Rodriguez and Miller do a surprisingly effective job of getting us to care about characters who do some pretty reprehensible things. The best, most exciting sequence involves Owen's character, though all three stories have their moments.
This is the best Rourke has been in years (perhaps because he's almost unrecognizable under heavy makeup), while usually heroic actors Elijah Wood and Josh Hartnett do well playing against type.
"Frank Miller's Sin City" is rated R for brutal action violence (shootings, stabbings, fisticuffs, animal attacks and violence against women), some graphic gore, strong sexual profanity and crude sexual talk, two scenes of torture, female nudity, some strong drug content (abuse of prescription drugs), lewd dancing, and simulated sex and other sexual contact. Running time: 126 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com