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Post by G. Gerald Garcia on Apr 4, 2005 16:29:15 GMT -7
Have you seen SIN CITY yet?  #1 Movie this weekend (Apr1-3) Grossed $28.5 million. Worth the money or wait for the DVD? Takes visual cues directly from Frank Miller's work. How does the story flow? How close is it to the source material? GarSeeYa!!! |
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Post by Andrew on Apr 4, 2005 18:28:30 GMT -7
If you like the comic, you'll probably like the movie. If you don't know the comic, the guideline seems to be, if you liked Kill Bill Part One, you'll like SC.
Writing-wise, there's very little, if anything, added in terms of dialogue, one small thing at the end in terms of plot (and I use the term loosely). This means a distracting-to-the-point-of-irritating overuse of voiceover (at least for me). A few lines were cut, but not enough, IMO.
Visually, I disagree with the consensus that this movie brings Miller's comic to life. Compositionally, it's bordering on shot-for-shot from the comic. But Miller's comic is stark b&w--the grey element here adds a different texture to the film. As the B&W style is my favourite part of the comic, I wasn't as thrilled with the visual elements of the movie as some.
The actors did pretty good with what they had to work with. Mickey Rourke was perfect as Marv, Willis was functional as Hartigan and never succumbed to the urge to wink at the audience. Owen was pretty good, but his American accent was occasionally a little shaky.
Jessica Alba is certainly attractive, but if this film is anything to go by, she can't act her way out of a wet paper bag. Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino, and whoever played Goldie pulled off their roles about as well as anyone could.
The opening and closing sequences with Josh Hartnett were distracting and reeeally unnecessary.
Some people I know had problems with the digitally created backdrops, thinking it made the thing look overly stagy. I didn't mind that--the artificiality of the environments reminded me of a lot of old B&W movies, maybe hitting some subconscious buttons.
I was less impressed with things like the car chases, which gave me TRON flashbacks. They just felt unnatural, and every time one came up, I was pulled out the action.
Bottom line for me: The good stuff in the Sin City comic is great, but it isn't a great comic. The good stuff in Sin City the film is pretty good, but the film isn't. And the film manages to be funnier than the comic--slapstick is funnier when there's motion involved.
That's just me, though. As I say, if you like the comics, odds are you'll like the film. I suspect I'll end up with a DVD in the house shortly after it's release--my wife liked the film. I suspect I'd have ended up with one in the house even if she didn't--from a technical standpoint if nothing else, it certainly merits more than a single viewing.
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Mr. Vince
MIC AGENT
Friendly Giant
Posts: 249
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Post by Mr. Vince on Apr 4, 2005 18:38:46 GMT -7
I really liked this movie. It was amped to see it since I saw the comicon teaser and when i saw it Wednesday, I wasn't disappointed.
I thought everyone was right on cue with their roles and the action and humor was great. In and of itself, it was the gritty, comic book, film noir, gorefest I expected it to be. No punches were pulled and no dialogue was dressed down. Some of the dialogue was a bit cheesy, but come on! It's not like its a documentary, this is a comic book movie! It's all about the one-liners.
The film does indeed stay true to much of the comics. I liked the fact that the solid color rotoscoping was kept to a minimum and done only to accentuate key scenes. If it was all thoughout, it would be like watching 'Delta State' in black and white. Boo-runs to that.
So yeah, this is definately a theatre kind of movie. Not for the sqeamish though, but bloody entertaining from start to finish.
-Vince-
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Post by Temperance on Apr 4, 2005 22:36:02 GMT -7
Not too sure if you'll like it? Wait like 10 days, then drive to China town and buy a knock-of copy in the DVD market in the Dragon city mall! Horray! Only $8
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Post by srichter on Apr 5, 2005 8:34:57 GMT -7
Some of the dialogue was a bit cheesy, but come on! It's not like its a documentary, this is a comic book movie! It's all about the one-liners. Good comics shouldn't be and films adapted from good comics shouldn't be either. And that was my problem. So many of the things that made the comic enjoyable, ruined the film for me. It's fine to read the cheesy dialogue in your head, but when it's spoken aloud by another person, it just becomes... well... cheesy! And the hyper violence - again, when you see it on the page, you can explain it away, but to see it "REALLY" happening... it comes off as artificial (even in the context of the movie...). I really didn't like it. But then, I really didn't like Kill Bill either, so I'm probably not the right audience for this movie. The graphic novels are great though! |
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FC
MIC AGENT
life is a journey, not a destination.
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Post by FC on Apr 5, 2005 13:31:11 GMT -7
I have to agree with Andrew and Shawn -
Coming from a standpoint of someone who *gasp* hasn't read the comic, I came away from the movie not sure what to think. On the one hand, as an artist, I can totally appreciate the design choices made, though if what they say is true, this existed in the comic to begin with. On the other hand, I found the colour rotoscoping really distracting, since the other visual elements were black, white, and lots of shades of grey in between.
On another level, I found the film rather disturbing as a monument of fictitious gratuitous violence... and I'm normally not one to shirk away from graphic violence at all.
I think a major part of what irked me is that the violence that would not normally disturb me in comic book form really did make me uncomfortable when it was (albeit unrealistically) portrayed by real people. The actions felt, to me, unnecessary, and really served to remind me just how desensitized I am to graphic violence in print. (Whether this was the point - who can say?)
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Post by Mr. Nick on Apr 5, 2005 20:12:29 GMT -7
I think the problem with most comic book adaptations is that everyone gets too hung up on how the movie changed this or that or how the comic was better or blah, blah. It's important to look at the movie as a MOVIE, on it's own.
Bottom line: it's one of the most unique and visually stunning movies I have ever seen and totally transported me to another world. It had great characters, sweet action, black comedy and just sooo much cool stuff jam packed into two hours. Now, I think the Josh Hartnett stuff was meant to give the movie a bit of cohesiveness. To kind of bookend the film and I was cool with that.
It was fun, too, and a reminder that when you write, don't restrain yourself. Anything can happen when the pen is in your hand, no matter how crazy or outrageous your ideas may be, you can push them as far as you want.
"An old man dies, so a little girl can live." I mean, how cool is that?
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Post by Temperance on Apr 5, 2005 21:42:22 GMT -7
Comic movies are a gamble at best. If you change stuff, fans get mad, if you don't change stuff, costumes and dialogue sound corny or stupid.
Remember when X-men came out, and everyone was up in arms about those leather biker kevlar suits? In the end, it was all for the best! I liked them better, it was practical and it wasn't yellow spandex! Everybody wins.
But not all changes are good of course. Don't get me started on Catwoman or Constantine... or that ugly hunvee looking batmobile for Batman Begins.
Really, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Fans can't change things or force writers or producers to change their "vision". sometimes it's a good thing, sometimes it's a terrible thing, but in the end, we know what's good and what isn't. And Box office sales will prove what us nerds already knew.
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A2
New Member
Posts: 11
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Post by A2 on Apr 21, 2005 10:41:28 GMT -7
Everyone should go see Kung Fu Hustle. it is just awesome.
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Post by Temperance on Apr 21, 2005 21:20:34 GMT -7
Oh yeah! I bought that awhile ago. That and Shaolin Soccer are probably Steven Chiau's (or if you preferr Chow) best movies. I've got a bunch of his older stuff too, but they aren't nearly as funny.
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Mr. Vince
MIC AGENT
Friendly Giant
Posts: 249
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Post by Mr. Vince on Apr 21, 2005 22:15:45 GMT -7
Yeah, Kung Fu Hustle's incredible. I have almost all of Stephen Chow's movies. It's cool to see how he's progressed as a writer and director and what he's been able to do in the past. He used to do 3 movies a year with a budgets that could barely buy a house.
As far as his older movies go, I'd recommend Shaolin Soccer, God of Cookery, Love on Delivery, King of the Beggars, and Forbidden City Cop.
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Post by Rik on May 5, 2005 19:31:01 GMT -7
Sin City! What can I say? BRILLIANT! STRIKING! INNOVATIVE! ENGAGING! TRUE TO THE SOURCE!
What more could a geek like myself ask for?
Mickey Rourke as Marv-didn't think he'd be big enough, didn't think he'd be convincing in the role, didn't think his voice would suit the character.............Boy! Was I wrong! Everyone's performance was top notch!
I have nothing bad to say about the movie. Which, by the way, is VERY rare for me. Usually I'm quite anal about my comic movies.
P.S. My wife turned to me halfway through the picture and said: "What a stupid movie!" Aw, well...
-Rik
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Post by damian on May 31, 2005 0:41:10 GMT -7
am i the only one excited to see "Lords of Dogtown"? Growing up skateboarding for the better part of 15 years i think it looks T-riffic!!  |
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Post by K. Tindall on Jun 17, 2005 9:33:40 GMT -7
I'm late the party, but I have to chime in on KUNG FU HUSTLE... it's the most entertaining movie I've seen in years and the best movie I've seen this year, so far.
Although I'm just beside myself with glee over HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE... Miyazaki is my hero, he walks on water to me, and this is the movie that makes me more excited than any other movie this year.
Shame it had to come out the same weekend as Batman... I would have liked to have seen Batman without the pressure.
Best,
Kelly
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