Sin City is the title for a series of neo-noir comics by Frank
Miller[1]. The first story
originally appeared in "Dark Horse
Presents Fifth Anniversary Special" (April, 1991), and continued in Dark Horse Presents #51–62 from May 1991 to June 1992,
under the title of Sin City
and serialized in thirteen parts. Several other stories of variable lengths
have followed. The intertwining stories, with frequently recurring characters,
take place in Basin City.
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| Can Hartigan still protect Nancy - even though he's dead? |
The
first movie adaptation of Sin
City was released in April 2005 based on the first, third, and fourth books
in Miller's original comic series. An extra
included on the DVD release explains how Miller was reluctant to release the
film rights, but Roger Rodrigues, a long time fan of Millers graphic novels,
talked the author into doing just that by shooting “The Customer Is Always Right”, which in fact ended up as the
opening sequence in the first film. It was also this sequence that was used to
recruit Willis and some of the other major stars to appear in the movie.
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| Can Ava Lord become the femme fatale of femme fatale's? |
The sequel, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For was
released in August 2014. One of the smaller plots of the film is based on the
short story "Just Another Saturday Night", which is collected
in Booze, Broads, & Bullets,
the sixth book in the comic series. Two original stories ("The Long Bad
Night" and "Nancy's Last Dance") were created exclusively for
the film written by Miller.
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| Can Marv or Dwight save the day? |
Both films were co-directed by Robert Rodriguez [2] and Frank
Miller, and star an ensemble cast including returning cast members
Mickey Rourke as tough guy Marv, Jessica Alba as Nancy Callahan, Rosario
Dawson as Gail the overlord of the women that run the red light district known as Old Town, Bruce
Willis reprises his role as the only good cop in Basin City John Hartigan, Jaime
King appears as both Goldie and her twin sister Wendy, and Powers Boothe
is the most powerful man in Basin City the rich and corrupt politician Senator
Roark . Newcomers to the series include Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva
Green, Ray Liotta, Lady Gaga, Julia Garner, and the wonderful Juno
Temple.
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| Can there ever be a better looking working girl than Sally? |
Again we have a rather unique looking movie, not quite as
unique as it was ten years ago but still unique. We are presented with
wonderful graphic noir atmospherics, the steamy black and white footage where
red is the colour of dresses and cars and of course at times blood, the brilliantly
spoken pulp narrative as if you were being read a bed time story by the king of
pulp novels himself Mickey Spillane. In fact it does at times remind you of
Spillane’s disgust for women, especially through Eva Greens character Ava Lord
where one minute she is placed on a pedestal and the next thrown in the gutter
– go back a century or two and she would have been burnt as a witch. All this along with the ‘writing style’ gives
you no doubt that it has been successfully lifted from the pages of a comic
book – no wonder Miller agreed to release the film rights, know he can see what
was originally in his mind eye in all its dazzling spender up on the big screen.
Sexy, violent and humorous Sin City 2,
just like its predecessor, is a joyous piece of nonsense that must be seen –
but remember, “Never lose control. Never let the monster out”. Goodbye suckers
I’m off to Kadies!!
[1] Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an
American writer, artist, and film director best known for his dark comic
book stories and graphic novels such
as Ronin, Daredevil: Born Again, The Dark Knight Returns, Sin
City and 300. He also directed the film version of The Spirit,
shared directing duties with Robert Rodriguez on Sin
City, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and produced the film 300. He
is also known for creating the comic book character Elektra.
[2] Robert Anthony
Rodríguez (born June 20, 1968)[3] is
an American film director, screenwriter,
producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and
produces many of his films in Mexico and his native Texas. He has directed
successful and groundbreaking film sagas such as the Mexico
Trilogy, From Dusk till Dawn, Sin City, Planet Terror,
and Machete. He is a friend and frequent collaborator of
filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. In December 2013, Rodriguez launched his own
cable TV channel, El Rey.
