Sin City: Blu-ray disc Movie Review (2009)

From 2005, an oddly overlooked potboiler infused with style. Now out on Blu-ray disc, "Sin City" slaps audiences hard with high-end style--shadowy, black-and-white cinematography shot through with flashes of color set against the dreariest of worlds. The look is sexy and disarming, often beautiful and then, in an instant, drop-dead ugly.

The good news? None of it comes at the expense of substance.

Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez direct from Miller's popular series of graphic novels, and the result is a violent, sometimes boldly funny film that taps into the meanest of genres--the hard-boiled detective novel and pulp fiction, which enjoyed their heyday from 1920 to 1950--and the film noir movement they inspired.

With great panache and a broad wink at its audience, "Sin City" cranks up the heat and dices up the double-talk. In its grit, it rivals the outlaw toughness of the Western, which influences it. In its darkness, it echoes the Gothic, which deepens it. If it were a scab, it would pick itself just so it could bleed. Sound gross? Sorry, but that gets to the heart of the film. Like jazz, the movie is distinctly American, an exciting, fresh blast of moviemaking that's urban and racy, with dialogue that snaps and an undercurrent of sleaze that thrums in its bones.

Three stories hold this dark gangster flick together--"Yellow Bastard," "The Hard Goodbye" and "The Big Fat Kill." All are a nonlinear rush, so it's best to go into the film without any preconceived notions of what it is. Trust Miller, Rodriguez and guest director Quentin Tarantino to take care of you--and to take you on one hell of a ride.

There will be plenty to look at along the way, starting with the excellent cast, which includes Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Benecio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson and an almost unrecognizable Mickey Rourke. The stories they inhabit are so detailed, we'll leave it at this: each story concerns itself with the state of the world's rotting underbelly, a seething infestation of crooks and other vermin that needs a good cleaning. It gets one, but not before heads fly and limbs are lopped.

Now that's it's given new life on Blu-ray, will the film be embraced by today's audiences? Will they embrace this big chunk of nouveau noir? I think so. At the core, we aren't too different from those who dug noir in the 1940s and '50s. When it comes to ridding the world of thugs, we still like the idea of unmannered, tough, honest heroes who will physically take to the streets with their fists, their guns, their hatchets and their brains, and come away with retribution.

"Sin City" delivers that--and how.

Grade: A-

Features:
Disc 1: Restored Theatrical Version
Cine-Explore - Blu-ray Exclusive
Commentary With Robert Rodriguez And Frank Miller
Commentary With Robert Rodriguez And Quentin Tarantino
Audio Track Featuring A Recording Of The Austin Audience Reaction

Disc 2: Recut, Extended, Unrated Version
Kill 'Em Good Interactive Comic Book -- Blu-ray Exclusive
Rodriguez Special Features
- 15-Minute Film School
- All Green Screen Version
- The Long Take
- Sin City: Live In Concert
- 10-Minute Cooking School
How It Went Down: Convincing Frank Miller To Make The Film
Special Guest Director: Quentin Tarantino
A Hard Top With A Decent Engine: The Cars Of Sin City
Booze, Broads And Guns: The Props Of Sin City
Making The Monsters: Special Effects Make-Up
Trench Coats & Fishnets: The Costumes Of Sin City
Teaser And Theatrical Trailer

View the trailer for "Sin City" here: