DVD Review
by Kevin Carr
| MOVIE: ****1/2 (out of 5 stars)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) STARRING Jessica Alba as NANCY CALLAHAN Benicio Del Toro as JACKIE BOY Brittany Murphy as SHELLIE Clive Owen as DWIGHT Mickey Rourke as MARV Bruce Willis as HARTIGAN Eiljah Wood as KEVIN Rated R Studio: Dimension Directed by: Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller with Quentin Tarantino Back to DVD Review Home |
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Over the past couple years, I’ve been kinda hard on Robert Rodriguez. Sure, he’s one of those indie film darlings that emerged from the 1990s like Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino. However, as of late, his films have kinda stunk. Even the much lauded “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” seemed to focus more on his fascination with a digital movie camera than the story and characters.
Consequently, Rodriguez was responsible for one of the lamest movies of 2005. Of course, I’m talking about his kid’s dream flick “The Adventures of SharkBoy and LavaGirl.” But this is if Robert Rodriguez left completely to his own devices. Sure, he can take a $10 million budget and, by performing most of the crew roles on the film, make a slick production that looks like $60 million. However, his strength has never been in the script. It’s no wonder that his best written piece continues to be his debut feature “El Mariachi.”
However, give the man a script by someone else - a good writer - and you’ll get something beautiful. So while Rodriguez is responsible for one of the lamest films of the year, he’s also responsible for one of the best.
And that movie is “Sin City.”
“Sin City” is a monumental film for many reasons - most of the important ones, in fact. First, the story. It’s written by comic book genius Frank Miller. In formulating the film version of “Sin City,” Rodriguez did what very few comic book directors did... they stayed true to the material. In fact, Rodriguez was so adamant about this that he torpedoed his own Director’s Guild status (and consequently his chance to make the John Carter of Mars movies through Paramount) by insisting that Miller receive a directing credit.
This may seem petty to those who don’t know the complete process of film, but it is a tremendous and strong decision that I applaud. After all, it was Frank Miller who conceived the character. He built the city in his brain. He laid out the comics, drew the art and wrote all the dialogue.
All Rodriguez did was put it on film (or video, actually).
What we’re left with is a gritty film noir, hard-boiled look at Frank Miller’s original comic book. Sure, there’s some corny dialogue, but it comes straight from the book. And there are some shots that really don’t flow right into the film itself, but again, it came from Miller’s mind. And I can respect that.
Like some twisted Woody Allen film, the cast is sizeable, filled with names and faces that seem to be working from the heart rather than for their pocketbook. Mickey Rourke manages to steal the show as the monstrous Marv, a kindhearted killer avenging the death of his prostitute lover. Elijah Wood also turns out a great performance (without uttering a word) as the cannibalistic Kevin. There isn’t a weak link in the cast, which is a virtual who’s who of Hollywood.
The only disappointing thing with this DVD is that it is clearly just a Band-Aid for the video shelves. Rodriguez normally fills his DVDs to the brim with director commentaries, deleted scenes, background info and special effect workshops. The “Sin City” DVD has only a behind-the-scenes featurette. While this featurette is informative and interesting, showing comic book comparisons to characters and shots from the film, it is very slim.
When I saw how little was on there, I was as disappointed as I was to find out that Jessica Alba’s stripper wardrobe revealed about the same amount.
But not to worry. The way the industry works is that we’ll see a new special edition released pretty much every year until we die. That’s when the real cool stuff will come out. Until now, check out this DVD as a movie to watch. It’s still worth it.
Specifications: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound. DTS 5.1 Digital Surround Sound. Widescreen (1.85:1), enhanced for 16x9 televisions. French language track. Spanish subtitles. English subtitles for the hearing impaired.
