it's no city on a hill

Sin City: I don't want to live there...

But apparently some people do.

Tagline should have been: the mind of machismo

Plotline should have been: Uber-indulgent men violently flaunting their libidos to one another while keeping women corralled as sex objects.

Critics/Fans say: But – the style is amazing.

Well, really the seedy noir pastiche becomes the essential blanket (though be it a pretty one) to cover the boring dialogue, unnecessary voice-over, and poor editing. And cool camera moves are always a crutch for action movies.

C/F: But – it fits Frank Miller’s comic book.

That’s why Robert Rodriguez directed it: he likes very little character development or dialogue, lots of chicks in tight/no clothes, over-the-top violence, and the strong male protagonist/hero. Comic books survive off projection – people who project what they want or would like themselves to be (bag the girl, murder the bad guy, etc.) on the characters. Rodriguez wants to be the man, and this script let him do what he ultimately wanted to do with the Dusk til Dawn series – bring primitive man back to life in an anti-heroic modern setting.

C/F: But – the time period isn’t really nailed down.

Sure it is. It’s set in a modern world, complete with high rises, Ferrari’s, and guns. But that world’s mores just so happen to come full circle to those of the caveman days. Murder, revenge and sex are necessities. They are not raised to the point of glorification, since unjustified murder is still a crime, but they are the uncontested results of a life of sin. Within their realm, they have progressed to certain unalienable right, such as the right to property – in their case, women. They are objects to be traded, beaten, eaten, controlled, stared at and “loved.” In fact women are so objectified by men that the only woman who gets away from male oppression drives a male’s Ferrari – not a fifties-mobile (read “a time when women weren’t respected”). Rodriguez isn’t smart enough to create that much symbolism on his own, that’s where Miller and Tarantino play integral roles in making the movie even somewhat interesting.

C/F: So, the modern world doesn’t really seem that modern.

Nope it isn’t. Not if you consider free-thinking modern. This world is stuck in pure “id” sensation. Perhaps Miller’s commenting on the way modernity has strengthened our caveman roots and engenderings, but there’s no doubt that this is a world for purely “sensitive” men - the feeling of the heart beating when preparing for a kill, the color of a woman’s hair, the taste of blood, the sound of a scream, the smell of evil. All of which commodify women. Even the beautiful words “I love you” are uttered in each vignette, but never outside the confines of a strict coercion towards subordination.

This movie isn’t a commentary on these issues though. It’s really just a meager attempt to produce pulpy pop culture. It should have stayed a comic book or have gotten a director to infuse life into it, not just Bruce, blood, and boobs. I guess it got me thinking (There's more to say. I just don't care anymore.), but overall…

Fair at best.