Sin City:
I saw Sin City over the weekend and I endorse the movie. I give it a B+; I also give the comic a B+. Comic-book legend Frank Miller is the Creator behind Sin City. And the reason why I give both the comic and the movie a B+ is because the movie perfectly adapts the comic. (Although Sin City is a good comic; it's not Miller at his best. For that, you'd have to see The Dark Knight Returns, Batman Year One, Daredevil, or Martha Washington Goes to War). For those who aren't familiar with the comic, how they adapted the comic is what's truly special about this movie. And when I say special, I mean, this has never been done before. And it's about freakin' time that they did this.
They literally shot the movie right from the comic book. No scripts, no adaptation, no changing nothin'. Line by line, and panel by panel (a "panel" is each separately drawn picture on a comic page; a typical page might have between 5-6, some with more, some with less, some pages are one entire panel called a "splash page") what's in the comic is what's in the movie. And there were no actual sets. All the background was created by computers.
Too many great comic ideas have been ruined in the process of "adapting" the comics to film. Now that we have the computer technology, the way to make a blockbuster comic movie is take the best of what's out there in the comic book world and shoot right from the friggin' comic and don't change a damn thing. Now that the trend has been set, let's hope that it is followed.
If Watchmen is to be made into a movie, let's pray that they make it (or the "series"; they'd have to do at least three) this way.
Update: See David Swindle's review of Sin City here.
4 comments:
Jonathan, in addition to my weekly opinion column I also do a weekly film review column. A few weeks back I devoted my entire 600 words to "Sin City." (I'll usually break that up and review 2 or 3 movies -- usually a new theatrical and a new DVD.)
I was a tad more enthusiastic about the film than you -- I gave it a solid "A." Was ABSOLUTELY blown away. Here's my review:
http://www.bsudailynews.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/04/07/42554e2d790d3?in_archive=1
Also might want to check out my blog for my film review column at http://swimmingincelluloid.blogspot.com
As for Watchmen, I think the only way for it to be done properly is as a miniseries for HBO or Showtime or something. MAYBE three, 3-hour movies, but I'd still be more comfortable with it as a miniseries.
The comic that we REALLY need to be talking about being adapted, though, is Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman"... THAT would be a dream come true.
take care,
David Swindle
I agree. Although Watchmen would be my dream. That or Kurt Busiek's Astro City.
However, both of those movies would have to be done the "Sin City" way -- shoot it right from the comic, no script, no changes -- or else Hollywood could fuck things up real bad and that would break my heart.
Sin City proved to me that there's a world of difference between a comic book and a film. I'm starting to like Robert Rodriguez less and less. He's a technical whiz, but will he ever make a film for grown-ups?
Rodriguez? A film for grown-ups? I highly doubt it. He just strikes me as a big kid. And dialogue/story/character has never been his strong suit. For him it's all about lookin' cool... Which he fully accomplishes in "Sin City."
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