Sin City is a violent, well-aestheticized neo-noir showcase that follows four different gritty stories within the titular setting, a section of the larger Basin City run by prostitutes in a deal with police. A mass femicidal maniac charms women before killing them; a case of child molestation gets investigated by retiring cop John Hartigan (Bruce Willis); a lady of the night’s murder in bed with her thug brute of a hookup/boyfriend Marv (Mickey Rourke) sends him on a killing spree; Jackie Boy’s (Benicio del Toro) abusive actions towards his ex, Shellie (Brittany Murphy), drives her current boyfriend Dwight McCarthy (Clive Owens) to hunt he and his gang down. Each story is blotted with violent traumas inflicted upon the few survivors, demonstrating not just how they’re perturbed but why such drastic survival measures are necessary within the city. Sin City‘s decently sleek writing and intricate plotting contrast beautifully with Frank Miller’s black-and-white single color-focusing visualization; life is not black nor white, but gray.

The best way to describe Sin City is that it’s a B-movie Pulp Fiction, with much more sexism and bloated writing. It peddles around with the different crimes and sins humans are capable of reasonably well, from murder and mutilation to torture and molestation. The thick plots, Frank Miller’s illuminating aestheticism and character studies, and Tarantino’s special guest action directing role keep things rolling. However, Robert Rodriguez’s writing weighs it down significantly. Like with most other more accepted Rodriguez creations, dialogue is all over the place. Sometimes, the narration and dialogue are sleek, but it more often clutters what’s on screen. Characters feel like hollower versions of their comic book counterparts, themes dumb down, and grit is reduced to campy grime. Some visuals don’t land either; occasionally, scenes look washed out, and CGI is abominably student-shot. Clive Owen also leaves much to be desired, but fortunately, his cast mates have much stronger emotional cores. Sin City is violently engaging, gritty fun in the grand scheme, demonstrating the range of human cruelty under a lens of slick visuals that are sure to please, at least on the surface.

Screens Friday, 6/29, 11:59 pm @ Coolidge Corner
Part of the midnight repertory series: Marvel-less Midnites