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For this movie, three stars is a little too harsh. It's much more three and a half, but XF doesn't allow you to rate something in halves, so whatever.
Sin City is a neo-noir crime anthology done in a stylized black and white look that is, almost needless to say, very suitable for this kind of genre. This movie is from a graphic novel series done by Frank Miller and it's a pretty damn good movie. Even uses the classic M1911-A1 pistol in many scenes which I heartily approve of... Except for two big problems which drag it down a lot. The first one is much more a personal thing I guess, but the first story, Yellow Bastard, disgusts me just a little too much for any real enjoyment. Much like seeing a cockroach scuttle around before it finally, and satisfyingly, gets stomped. Sure, the stomp is satisfying, but I'd rather just skip the whole experience altogether to be honest.
The rest of the stories tone down the disgust factor a lot more, thankfully, and are much more enjoyable. But that then brings us right to the second big problem. Things are just a little too exaggerated. Sin City has many, many moments where it is immersing you and pulling you in, but then, you see someone get ragdolled and blasted into the air from getting shot like we're watching a damn Looney Tunes episode, or maybe you see someone jumping out of the top window of a 12-story building and landing on their feet just fine as if it were a little jump over a fence. This coupled with the sometimes incredibly cheesy dialogue can really ruin the immersion and kill the brooding tone of the stories.
Don't get me wrong. When it comes to this genre, I think a little exaggeration is not just acceptable, it can even be preferable, but you can also definitely go too far. Max Payne is a really good example of how to walk this fine line. A little seasoning is good, but you can definitely go overbroad and drown out the rest of the flavors of the whole dame by adding too much. Still though, if you're a fan of the noir genre at all, this movie is definitely worth at least one watch. I'd just skip over the first story though if you're like me.
Sin City is a neo-noir crime anthology done in a stylized black and white look that is, almost needless to say, very suitable for this kind of genre. This movie is from a graphic novel series done by Frank Miller and it's a pretty damn good movie. Even uses the classic M1911-A1 pistol in many scenes which I heartily approve of... Except for two big problems which drag it down a lot. The first one is much more a personal thing I guess, but the first story, Yellow Bastard, disgusts me just a little too much for any real enjoyment. Much like seeing a cockroach scuttle around before it finally, and satisfyingly, gets stomped. Sure, the stomp is satisfying, but I'd rather just skip the whole experience altogether to be honest.
The rest of the stories tone down the disgust factor a lot more, thankfully, and are much more enjoyable. But that then brings us right to the second big problem. Things are just a little too exaggerated. Sin City has many, many moments where it is immersing you and pulling you in, but then, you see someone get ragdolled and blasted into the air from getting shot like we're watching a damn Looney Tunes episode, or maybe you see someone jumping out of the top window of a 12-story building and landing on their feet just fine as if it were a little jump over a fence. This coupled with the sometimes incredibly cheesy dialogue can really ruin the immersion and kill the brooding tone of the stories.
Don't get me wrong. When it comes to this genre, I think a little exaggeration is not just acceptable, it can even be preferable, but you can also definitely go too far. Max Payne is a really good example of how to walk this fine line. A little seasoning is good, but you can definitely go overbroad and drown out the rest of the flavors of the whole dame by adding too much. Still though, if you're a fan of the noir genre at all, this movie is definitely worth at least one watch. I'd just skip over the first story though if you're like me.
