March 29, 2005 - Based on three of Frank Miller's Sin City graphic novels, Robert Rodriguez has co-directed the film with Miller himself to create the most loyal comic adaptation ever seen on screen. The film opens with the first portion of the story, That Yellow Bastard, which stars Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba and Nick Stahl. Willis is a detective named Hardigan tracking down a pervert who has kidnapped a little girl named Nancy (Alba plays the older Nancy). He rescues her from the deranged son of Sin City's senator, Roark, Jr. (Nick Stahl). The story continues at the end with Nancy all grown up and sexy and the senator's son a little more yellow. The second story is The Hard Goodbye and follows the adventures of Marv, appropriately played by Mickey Rourke. Marv is a tough street fighter who's just had the night of his life with a beautiful woman named Goldie (Jaime King). He wakes up the next day to find her lying dead next to him. Marv unleashes a brutal quest for revenge, killing or reassembling anyone who gets in his way. Co-starring is Elijah Wood, Rutger Hauer and Powers Boothe. Finally, The Big Fat Kill stars Clive Owen as Dwight, a P.I. trying to keep things clean in a dirty city. The cops are corrupt and have a deal with the hookers who live in Old Town – basically don't cause trouble and we'll turn a blind eye to what you do. When a cop winds up dead at the hands of the ladies of the night, the "something" is about to hit the fan. Co-starring are Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy and Michael Clarke Duncan. That's about as much info as I can give about these stories without spoiling the fun.

Sin City is, in a word, a blast. From beginning to end, its stylized visuals and sexually charged, blood-soaked world is a treat for those willing to submit. More than just based on the graphic novels, this film is about 80 percent exactly as seen on the paneled frames of Miller's original work, making them practically the storyboards for the film. These are raw, simple stories. They are far from complex, but more an appeal to the base desires of the male imagination. Women are scantily clad or nude, men are simple and tough and everyone else is ripe for the takedown. The film and stories are heavily steeped in the film noir world of '50s pulp mags and grade B detective films, with almost constant voiceover and hard boiled lines such as: "Cops… They're telling me too much, showing up before anybody but me and the killer could know there's been a murder."

	-Dimension Films Carla Gugino (left) and Mickey Rourke (right)

Visually, Sin City is absolutely incredible. Shot primarily on sound stages in front of green screens in much the same way Sky Captain was, City's look is a work of art in itself. With Sky Captain, I felt like the actors were acting opposite sets that weren't there, awkward and soulless. Sin City proves that you can create a world in this way and retain the same excitement as any great action film. Sin City looks great and the characters and world created within it are full of life. The look is almost like a futuristic black and white, shiny and grey with the occasional splash of a bright color, a streaking red or yellow.

	-Dimension Films As Nancy, Alba struts her stuff

The cast in Sin City is too large to discuss one by one, so I will go over a few key roles. Mickey Rourke completely steals the show as Marv. His sequence is far and away the coolest portion of the film. Rourke is simply bad-ass in this part, a hulking indestructible menace tearing through his would-be captors and spouting the cheesiest lines to ever sound so cool. Also deserving of special mention in this sequence is Carla Gugino (you might know her best as the mom from Spy Kids). Playing the parole officer to Marv and a lesbian, Gugino first appears wearing only a black thong, displaying her perfect nude body. She's good in the brief part, but it's mostly startling to see her in this way looking this hot. Her scene alone is worth the price of admission.