Sin City

Very popular, and rather good, adaption of Frank Miller's reportedly seminal graphic novels(s), with a plethora of stars both in front of and behind the cameras.
Let us first say that we do realise the piece can be read as mysoginistic, and the attempts to avoid this feature are occasionally cack-handed. The violence could be a problem were it unnecessary and malicious, but this is so obviously a comic book that the violence is rather fun and a crucial part of the films entertaining aesthetic.
Deliberate throwbacks to hard boiled dialogue, sharp, complicated, rather holey plotting, are all conventions of the genre faithfully and pleasingly followed. The four stories told are, due to their differences, uneven in quality, though all have their strong features. Mickey Rourke's section is probably the most memorable, Bruce Willis' has a terrific climax, Clive Owen's is probably the most....'realistic' (very -ish).
If this was just simple genre cinema, it would be rather boring. However, the star of this film is the shooting, the graphics. Just because of the comic book aesthetic of static mounted shots, sharp and often black/white/bright-contrast colour schemes it was always going to be interesting, but the direction is good enough that we are taken beyond this and find in general a fine visual fine. The classic argument ; you can shoot beauty badly and its ugly, you can shoot disgust well and it's beautiful, always applies, and here we have beautiful images shot very well. The snow, the camera moves across the violence, they are not overly fussy and fast cuts but clear ones that allow us to dwell on the images created. Just like in comic books, perhaps.
All round, a different and worthwhile piece of cinema. The best use of the comic-strip style seen on screen, and well done to create a fascinating and entertaining film from what could have been self-indulgent fanboyness.