Frank Miller's Sin City (2005, Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez)

Surprised I liked this one as much as I did, seeing how, based on the one Sin City story I read (Marv's story, whatever it's called, I'm not that much of a fanboy), I had low expectations. The comic was amusing enough, I suppose, but marred by Miller's usual self-importance and shitty storytelling. (I'm sorry, did I step on some toes?)

So yeah, I was pleased when it turned out that if you take his romantic anti-heroes and hookers-with-hearts-of-gold-and-fistfuls-of-dynamite and godawful narration and give it flesh and voice, it becomes quite campy and totally hilarious. Probably not the intent, but far from being excited or disgusted, I was charmed by its artificial aesthetic and cartoon physics. Can't imagine why some people wanted a more gritty movie; considering the atrocities these characters inflict on each other, anything heavier would look like Irréversible done for yuks. All the actors are totally game, even as they look silly (like Clive Owen jumping down six stories, effortlessly gliding to the ground in his bright red hightops); yet, the more makeup an actor is wearing, the more they become one with the phoniness of the enterprise and thus more effective -- like Nicky Katt (stealing the show for a brief minute by poking holes in the script's macho posturing through sheer atttitude), Nick Stahl (the best "straight" performance here), Elijah Wood (no makeup really, but turned into silent cartoon) and the wonderful Mickey Rourke. Rourke really is something other than else here; while the other leads simply coast on star power (not a bad strategy, as the script and mise-en-scene reward this), he gives it all he's got, trying to find something honest and human admidst the junky noir clichés, and succeeding admirably.

Anyway, we finally got the "faithful" comic-book adaptation we say we wanted (although I question how faithful it is if it makes the source look so dumb). Can we now faithfully adapt a comic that's, you know, good?