Sin City - It's Shitty.

Sin City is probably the worst movie I have ever seen. It is anti-heroic, unintegrated, naturalistic garbage that portrays one of the bloodiest, gore-riddled, violence-worshipping worldviews I have ever witnessed.

Unintegrated.

The film starts with a guy quickly seducing a gorgeous woman who he then shoots without shagging. This scene is completely detached from the rest of the film until the end when we see a girl who played a minor role getting in a lift with him and him referring to her by name. The film then has three sub-plots whose common link is their occurring in the same city - think of Pulp Fiction, then disintegrate it further and take out the sharp dialogue.

Anti-heroic naturalism.

In two of the three sub-plots, the heroic main character dies unsuccessful at the end of story; the third ends up with a prostitute girlfriend who is about to go to war with the police and the gangs. Another protagonist, with superhuman strength and a desire to help prostitutes, dies in an electric chair. The efforts of the third protagonist, Bruce Willis, are ultimately in vain also as he needlessly takes his own life having been through hell to save a young woman from being pursued by a rapist he had previously saved her from.

Presentation.

I do not consider the black and white I watched for two hours with the odd splash of colour to be aesthetically good - it is avant garde posturing and I say the Emperor wears no clothes.  Some will say that the presentation of the movie is in keeping with it’s comic book roots; I say the comic books should have been better illustrated and to spend extra money reducing the “watchability” of a movie to that of a comic book is a needless waste.

The only good thing - completely overwhelmed by the sheer ugliness of this film - is the many semi-naked hot women but I've paid this aspect too much attention already.

Conclusion.

Is this the worst movie I have seen? Until now I hated vampire movies more than these Tarantino flash back movies. I am thinking hard about some of the vampire movies I have seen. Those films seem to use the same plot over and over again: a group of bounty hunters chase a group of vampires, finding their sleeping area during daylight, skewer them through the heart and drag them out into the sunlight to burn but their leader survives and exacts revenge the following night on most of the bounty hunters, biting one of the main characters who must die along with the head vampire the following dawn.

Vampire films also lack integration to the extent they rely on the pre-established mystic image of the vampire but at least the rest of the plot (of those that I have seen - who knows what passes these days) is integrated and at least the good guys win. This film lacks the integration and the success of the good guys and includes mysticism as well. It is the worst movie I can remember seeing.

(Edited by Andrew Bates on 6/13, 5:50am)

All of these art / movie reviews on solo smell a lot too much like post-modern deconstructionism.  They are opportunities to see your own predilections emphasized and judge the art based on that.  (refer to the past discussion on 'the incredibles')  Deconstructionism is an irrational form of critique, it presupposes an outcome and chooses specific evidence only because it supports that outcome.  Performing these 'readings' of the text is how one is expected to critique an artwork.  I see that alot here in these discussions on movies.  If one goes into a film with a distaste for what they consider the film to be focused on, they will focus only on the negative and review it as such.

For those familiar with Frank Miller's work one could certainly argue that he presents very strong objectivist themes.  People familiar with Tarintino and Rodriguez works will argue that they present very strong anti objectivist themes, perhaps even nihilistic, though one could argue that Kill Bill is about Revenging a wrong and the atonement of a main character, and righting great wrongs was certainly a major theme in El Mariachi and Desperado.  If you think Rodriguez is all nihilism and violence, check out ‘Spy Kids’ or ‘The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl’.

Sin city has an artistic flare inspired by the comic book, filmed mostly in black and white or very washed out, and occasionally shown as literal two tone black and white with something occasionally colored for whatever reason you want to read into it (blood sometimes yellow, sometimes orange, tears sometimes highlighted, etc)  You might like it, you might not.  I thought it was interesting, but distracting from the story telling at some times.

It has some heroic themes, where people beaten and broken stand up and fight for what they believe in against overwhelming odds and endure great pain to further their highest values.  It has outsider heroes trying to right great injustices and normal people in difficult situations standing up for what they believe in.  Often the heroes are themselves flawed, is that glorifying the heroic or glorifying the flaw?  Take your pick. 

Picking on the apparent enjoyment some of the protagonists have when killing or taking their vengeance out on the antagonists could be argued to presume they should be acting out of altruism when righting these wrongs.  Since, if they enjoy it, they must actually *want* to do it.  Sometimes it is ok to find joy in doing something that is right.  Should Bruce Willis’s character act sad and burdened when he kills a mass murdering serial rapist (In self defense)?  No, I don’t think he should, and nor would I. 

It has some nihilistic themes, it is overtly violent features routine killings, very gruesome, a serial killer mounting heads of victims on his wall, etc.  And it has a dose of altruism, where a main character sacrifices himself to save the person he loves (is that altruism, or a prioritization of values?)

Personally I found the heroic themes and the great struggles they represented as enjoyable.  I generally enjoy Miller, Tarintino, and Rodriguez, and I liked this movie.   

But hey, I guess I’m just a nihilistic gen X/Y’er and perhaps no ‘true objectivist’

Michael

All of these art / movie reviews on solo smell a lot too much like post-modern deconstructionism.  They are opportunities to see your own predilections emphasized and judge the art based on that.  (refer to the past discussion on 'the incredibles') .

Hey it was I that started the critique of "the incredibles". I went to the incredibles and sin city not expecting the worst - so your hypothesis is wrong.

Unfortunately, I went to "the incredibles" after being told it was an objectivist morality tale.

Therefore, I expected too much.

With Sin City, I didn't know what to expect, but I was not expecting it to be a great film. Therefore, I was both shocked and disgusted when it turned out to be such a horrible spectacle.

 
Sarah,

I'm 33 and I didn't like the film. Does that mean I'm a pre-Gen Xer with good taste?