Sin City

"Sin City," based on the graphic novels by co-director Frank Miller, is an awesome thrill ride. Not only is it an awesome thrill ride, it is just a purely entertaining and interesting movie-going experience, as are most of co-director Robert Rodriguez's films (the "El Mariachi" trilogy & the "Spy Kids" trilogy). Rodriguez involved his "brother," fellow "Four Rooms" co-director Quentin Tarantino, along for the trip to Basin City, as the "Kill Bill" mastermind directed a segment of "Sin City" with Brittany Murphy, Clive Owen and Benicio Del Toro.

The movie, like Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," can be broken down into three related stories with a couple short, but still related to the story, segments mixed in, like the intro with Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton. The first part involves Detective John Hartigan (Bruce Willis), who gets set up by politicians as a rapist of a little girl, Nancy Callahan, because the son (Nick Stahl) of a prominent politician, a.k.a. Junior, is the actual rapist and murderer.

We are left knowing this much, as a new story begins involving an unrecognizable Mickey Rourke as the bulky Marv and the beautiful Jaime King as Goldie, who is silently murdered while sleeping next to Marv. He is framed for the murder, which was actually committed by a very creepy cannibal, Kevin, played very eerily by Elijah Wood. Marv stops at nothing to find those responsible for Goldie's death.

The third story begins with a confrontation at Shellie's (Murphy) apartment between her ex, Jack Rafferty (Del Toro), and her current lover, Dwight (Owen). Dwight follows Rafferty to Old Town, which is run by the prostitutes. Their leader and Dwight's former flame, Gail, is played very well by "25th Hour" co-star Rosario Dawson. Rafferty and his pals follow Becky (TV's "Gilmore Girls" star Alexis Bledel) down an alley, oblivious to the fact that they're being watched by all the ladies and Dwight. When things turn ugly, Miho (Devon Aoki), armed with a samurai sword or two, attacks the guys, killing them all except for Rafferty, who Dwight winds up killing. While scrounging through Rafferty's pockets for money, Dwight finds Rafferty's police badge.

Once the third story wraps up, we are brought back to the first story, as Hartigan is released from jail and goes searching for Nancy, who has been writing him letters for eight years under the name Cordelia. He finds Nancy (Jessica Alba) all grown-up, only to realize that he's been followed by a disgusting-looking and smelling man referred to as Yellow Bastard.

The second story is the most entertaining and interesting, as Rourke does a fantastic job as the rough-but-tender Marv.

The whole story idea of "Sin City" is a little more outlandish than your typical movie, but that's why people go to the movies, to see something that isn't about everyday lives. The way Rodriguez shot the movie and did the effects for it make it really seem like you're watching a comic book, not watching a movie or reading a comic book. It's the perfect happy medium.