“Sin City” is a gritty neo-noir film that intertwines several tales of crime, corruption, and revenge in Basin City. The movie opens with “The Customer is Always Right,” where a Salesman (Josh Hartnett) stages a murder as a mercy killing. The main stories include “The Hard Goodbye,” in which Marv (Mickey Rourke), a tough-as-nails street fighter, wakes up to find the beautiful woman he had spent the night with, Goldie (Jaime King), dead. Swearing vengeance, Marv takes on the city’s corrupt leaders to uncover the truth.
In “The Big Fat Kill,” Dwight (Clive Owen) gets embroiled in a violent showdown between the prostitutes of Old Town, led by Gail (Rosario Dawson), and the corrupt police, instigated by the manipulative Jackie Boy (Benicio Del Toro).
“The Yellow Bastard” sees aging cop Hartigan (Bruce Willis) save an 11-year-old girl, Nancy, from pedophile Roark Jr. (Nick Stahl). Despite being framed and jailed, Hartigan vows to protect Nancy, leading to a violent confrontation years later when Roark Jr., now a disfigured monster, goes after an adult Nancy (Jessica Alba), who’s become a nightclub dancer.
The film is a visual feast, stylistically mirroring the stark black-and-white aesthetics of the original comics, interspersed with splashes of colors for dramatic effect. The narrative portrays a grim city, brimming with violence and inhabited by anti-heroes, each fighting their own battles.
Cast: Sin City features a diverse and talented cast, including:
- Bruce Willis as Hartigan
- Mickey Rourke as Marv
- Jessica Alba as Nancy Callahan
- Clive Owen as Dwight McCarthy
- Rosario Dawson as Gail
- Benicio Del Toro as Jackie Boy
- Brittany Murphy as Shellie
Production: Sin City was directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, with Quentin Tarantino guest-directing a scene. The film was based on Miller’s graphic novel series of the same name, and was renowned for its innovative and stylistic recreation of the original comic book’s visuals.
Reviews: The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its stylized noir aesthetic, performances, and faithful adaptation of Miller’s source material. However, some critics found the film’s violent and sexual content to be excessive. It holds a 77% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes as of my last training cut-off in September 2021.
Where Are They Now? The main cast members have continued their acting careers and appeared in numerous other high-profile projects. For example:
- Bruce Willis has continued his long and successful acting career, starring in movies like “Looper” and “Moonrise Kingdom”.
- Jessica Alba has starred in films like “Fantastic Four” and the television series “L.A.’s Finest”.
- Clive Owen has starred in movies such as “Children of Men” and the TV series “The Knick”.
Fun Facts:
- The film was shot almost entirely in front of a green screen, with backgrounds added in post-production to recreate the look of a comic book.
- Quentin Tarantino directed one scene as a favor to Robert Rodriguez, who composed the score for Tarantino’s “Kill Bill Volume 2”.
- Frank Miller, the author of the Sin City graphic novels, was so pleased with the film adaptation that he co-directed it with Robert Rodriguez.
Box Office: Sin City was a commercial success. It grossed approximately $74 million in the United States and $158 million worldwide against a budget of $40 million.
