Sin City: Review By Moviemaster75

Sin City" is four stories inter-weaved telling tales of corruption in Basin City. The first story (The Customer is always right) is short, and is based on the depression of women that they need to pay a man to feel loved when they commit suicide. The next story is Part 1 of "That Yellow Bastard" about a cop who needs to save a young girl from being raped. The third story (The Hard Goodbye) features a man taking revenge on a heartless killer who murdered his one-night stand. The fourth story (The Big, Fat Kill) stars a man who must dispatch a cop's body, but it will be a tough ride to do it. Following that are two conclusions to Sin City, the ending of "That Yellow Bastard" which is set 8 years later, and a short story that ends Sin City.

In a town called Sin City it beckons to the tough, the corrupt, the brokenhearted, Some call it dark. Some call it hard-boiled. Then there are those who call it home. Crooked cops. Sexy Dames. Desperate vigilantes. Some are seeking revenge--others lust after redemption. And then there are those hoping for a little of both. A universe of unlikely and reluctant heroes still trying to do the right thing in a city that refuses to care

Four tales of crime adapted from Frank Miller's popular comics, focusing around a muscular brute who's looking for the person responsible for the death of his beloved Goldie, a man fed up with Sin City's corrupt law enforcement who takes the law into his own hands after a horrible mistake, a cop who risks his life to protect a girl from a deformed pedophile, and a hitman looking to make a little cash

"Sin City" is infested with criminals, crooked cops and sexy dames, some searching for vengeance, some for redemption and others, both. The film incorporates storylines from three of Miller's graphic novels including 'Sin City,' which launched the long-running, critically acclaimed series, as well as 'That Yellow Bastard' and 'The Big Fat Kill.' Where Hartigan, a cop with a bum ticker and a vow to protect stripper Nancy. Marv, the outcast misanthrope, is on a mission to avenge the death of his one true love, Goldie; there's also Dwight, the clandestine love of Shelley who spends his nights defending Gail and her Old Towne girls from Jackie Boy, a dirty cop with a penchant for violence

=== The Customer is Always Right ===

In a penthouse on the roof of a skyscraper overlooking Basin City, a fancy party is in progress. A woman ([[Marley Shelton]]), dressed in a red evening gown, is alone on the balcony. A man ([[Josh Hartnett]]), who is narrating, comes up behind her and offers her a [[cigarette]]. They exchange a little small talk, he tells her that he sees in her eyes a "crazy calm", of someone who is tired of running, but doesn't want to face her problems alone. He tells her that he will save her, and take her far away. They kiss, then he shoots her. She dies in his arms. He says that he does not know who she was running from, but will "cash her check in the morning."

Incidentally, on the [[DVD]] commentary, Frank Miller explains that the victim in this story (the Customer of the title) is actually committing [[suicide]]. The unnamed woman had dated a mobster, and when she tried to break it off, he said that he would kill her in the most terrible way possible. She then used her connections to hire a hitman (known as the Salesman) to provide her with a quick death.

=== That Yellow Bastard (Part 1) ===

On the docks of Sin City, aging police officer [[John Hartigan]] ([[Bruce Willis]]) is attempting to stop serial child murderer [[Roark Junior]] ([[Nick Stahl]]) from [[Rape|raping]] and killing 11-year-old [[Nancy Callahan]] ([[Makenzie Vega]]). Junior is the son of the powerful [[Roark family#Senator Roark|Senator Roark]] ([[Powers Boothe]]), who has paid off many police to cover up his son's crimes, including Hartigan's partner Bob ([[Michael Madsen]]). Bob tries to convince him to walk away, and appears to succeed, but then Hartigan sucker-punches him, knocking him out cold. Hartigan then makes his way into a warehouse, knocking unconscious two local criminals Shlubb and Klump, who are guarding Roarke Jr's Jaguar E Type. Junior is inside with the frightened Nancy and two armed henchmen, who are making sure that Junior and Nancy "get along" before leaving them alone. Hartigan shoots and kills the henchmen, but Junior shoots Hartigan in the shoulder, grabs Nancy and runs out to the docks. Hartigan catches up to Junior and shoots off his ear, causing him to drop Nancy. He then proceeds to shoot off Junior's arm and [[genitals]], before being shot in the back several times by a recovered Bob. Bob tells Hartigan to stay down, but Hartigan knows he must buy time for backup to arrive (as Bob will kill Nancy if they are alone) so he tries to pull his reserve gun, causing Bob to shoot him several more times. As the sirens approach, Hartigan lapses into unconsciousness knowing that Nancy is safe, justifying himself with the words "An old man dies, a little girl lives; fair trade", happy to exchange his life for hers.

=== The Hard Goodbye ===

[[Marv]] ([[Mickey Rourke]]), a hulking thug, is in a hotel room with the beautiful Goldie ([[Jaime King]]). After making passionate love, they fall asleep. Sometime later, Marv awakens to find that Goldie has been murdered. Sirens sound, and Marv reasons that he is being framed, by someone with money and influence. He fights his way past the corrupt police officers and storms the streets, vowing to avenge Goldie's death. He stops at the apartment of Lucille ([[Carla Gugino]]), his [[lesbian]] [[parole]] officer, to patch up wounds sustained in the fight. Lucille, knowing Marv has a "condition", has difficulty believing his story and unsuccessfully warns him to give up on his mission.

Marv heads to Kadie's Bar in search of information. After a while, he is approached by two hitmen, who order Marv into the back alley behind the bar, where they plan to shoot him. There, Marv turns the tables and beats them to death after interrogating them. Marv then shakes down various informants, working his way up to a corrupt priest ([[Frank Miller (comics)|Frank Miller]]), who reveals that a member of the Roark family was behind Goldie's murder. Marv kills the priest and steals his car, but is then attacked and shot at by a woman with a strong resemblance to Goldie. Marv, recognizing that he has not taken his medication for his "condition" for a long time, considers her to be a hallucination.

Marv arrives at the Roark family farm, where he fights off a [[wolf]], before uncovering the remains of many dead women. He is then attacked by a silent [[stalker]], who he realizes is Goldie's killer (as only someone silent could have killed her with Marv not noticing while sleeping next to her). Marv is knocked unconscious and awakens in the basement, where the heads of the stalker's past victims are mounted on the wall. Lucille, who decided to look into Marv's story after he left, was noticed and kidnapped, and is in the basement with Marv. Lucille reveals that the man Marv fought is a [[cannibal]] and Goldie was a high-grade [[prostitute]]. She shows Marv that her hand was cut off and she was made to watch as the killer ate it. Having comforted Lucille as best as he could, Marv starts to work on breaking the bars on the window. He sees the face of the killer, and hears him being called away by someone in a stretch limo. Marv overhears the killer's name is Kevin ([[Elijah Wood]]) and quietly swears revenge. He breaks free and tries to flee with Lucille, but a group of cops arrive and Lucille, still not convinced Marv was attacked by corrupt police, tries to surrender to them and is shot to death. An enraged Marv kills them off, hearing from their leader that Cardinal Patrick Henry Roark ([[Rutger Hauer]]) arranged for Goldie's murder.

Marv goes to Old Town, a section of Sin City reserved particularly for prostitution, because he wants to make sure that Roark is guilty before killing him, and he knows he can find out about Goldie there. Marv is captured and allows himself to be beaten by Goldie's look-alike, who is revealed to be her twin sister Wendy, in an effort to convince her that he did not kill Goldie, figuring she would eventually listen to reason. After revealing that Kevin killed Goldie and the others, Marv and Wendy collect weapons and return to the farm, hoping to finally avenge Goldie's death. Marv attacks Kevin and severs his limbs before leaving him to be eaten alive by the wolf. Marv cuts off Kevin's head with a hacksaw, and then takes the head to Cardinal Roark, who reveals that Kevin was a deeply religious boy who began eating prostitutes to swallow their souls. He persuaded the cardinal to join in, and when Goldie began investigating, she was killed. Marv kills the cardinal and is shot by his guards.

However, Marv survives his wounds and is beaten by corrupt police in order to force him to sign a confession stating that he killed not only Roark and Kevin, but the other women that Kevin and Roark killed, as well as Lucille and Goldie. He refuses to confess, until the DA (also a member of the Roark clan) tells him that if he does not sign the confession, his mother will be killed. After breaking the DA's arm in several places, he agrees and is quickly convicted and sentenced to death. Hours before his execution, he is visited by Wendy, who thanks him for avenging her sister and spends the night with him, telling him he can call her Goldie. They sleep together in his cell holding each other.

Finally he is strapped into an electric chair and read his last rites before ordering the guards to hurry up as he "Hasn't got all day". The guards accept his wishes and proceed to electrocute him. After a few seconds, the switch is thrown off the see if Marv is still alive, to which he is and makes one last insult, asking "Is that the best you can do, you pansies?" to the guards. The switch is thrown on again, and he finally dies, as the doctor checks him after it is thrown off again and says, "He's gone". The camera focuses into Marv's eye, in which is reflected an image of Goldie, to remind the viewer for whom he has enacted his veangance.

=== The Big Fat Kill ===

Shellie ([[Brittany Murphy]]), a barmaid from Kadie's, is being harassed by her [[Domestic violence|abusive]] ex-boyfriend Jackie Boy ([[Benicio del Toro]]). Her current boyfriend Dwight ([[Clive Owen]]) is disgusted with his brutish rival, and shoves his head into a urine-filled toilet bowl, warning him to leave Shellie alone. An embarrassed Jackie Boy flees with his friends, heading to Old Town to cause further trouble. Dwight follows them and watches them harass young prostitute Becky ([[Alexis Bledel]]). Also watching is Gail ([[Rosario Dawson]]), one of the head [[prostitutes]] and Dwight's on-and-off lover.

When Jackie Boy threatens Becky with a gun, martial arts expert Miho ([[Devon Aoki]]) sweeps down, severing Jackie Boy's hand with a [[Swastika#Buddhism|manji]] shaped ninja star and killing his friends with a [[katana]]. She then causes his gun barrel to backfire and hit him in the head, which somehow does not kill him. As it becomes apparent he will not die quickly, Dwight asks Miho to finish him. Miho does not quite sever his head, making "a [[Pez dispenser]] out of him". As the prostitutes collect the dead men's money, they realize that Jackie Boy is actually well-respected police officer Lt [[Jack Rafferty]]; his death spells a certain end to the truce between the police and the prostitutes, and war against Old Town will be inevitable.

Dwight agrees to take the corpses to the local tar pit, while a [[Psychological trauma|traumatized]] Becky returns home. While driving to the [[tar pit]], he has a hallucinatory conversation with Jackie Boy's corpse, who taunts him as he is chased by a police officer. Dwight talks his way out of the situation and arrives at the tar pit, but is suddenly shot by mercenaries. Meanwhile, head mercenary Manute ([[Michael Clarke Duncan]]) arrives in Old Town and kidnaps Gail, explaining that an informant has revealed everything and that other mercenaries are currently invading Old Town.

Dwight kills several [[mercenaries]] but is knocked into the tar by a grenade; he sinks into the tar and nearly drowns before Miho arrives and saves him. However, the other mercenaries have escaped and have taken Jackie Boy's severed head with them. They chase after the mercenaries and have a car accident, followed by a violent shoot-out that ends with the death of both mercenaries and the retrieval of Jackie Boy's head. Dwight devises a plan and he and Miho return to Old Town.

As Gail is being tortured, she learns that Becky was the traitor, informing the mercenaries out of fear and greed. Manute receives a letter from Dwight via an arrow from Miho, offering Jackie Boy's head in exchange for Gail. They meet in the back-alley, where the trade is made, though the mercenaries plan to kill them anyway. Dwight suddenly activates a grenade he had placed in Jackie Boy's Head, completely destroying it and any evidence that could have been taken to the cops. The other prostitutes of Old Town then reveal themselves on the roof tops surrounding the alley and gun down the mercenaries. Amidst the gunfire, an injured Becky escapes while Dwight and Gail kiss passionately.

=== That Yellow Bastard (Part 2) ===

[[Image:SIN CITY-3.jpg|thumb|250 px|right|"That Yellow Bastard"]]

Hartigan, who survived his wounds, is recovering in a hospital. Senator Roark (Boothe), Junior's father, arrives and informs him that Junior is in a [[coma]] and all plans for the Roark legacy are now in serious jeopardy. Senator Roark reveals that Hartigan will survive, will be framed for Junior's crimes and serve the resultant jail term. Additionally, if Hartigan tells anyone the truth, the informed people will be killed. A grateful Nancy visits and thanks him. She promises to write letters to Hartigan every week while he is in prison and departs.

Hartigan complies and goes to jail, knowing it is the only way to protect Nancy and his loved ones, though he refuses to officially confess to the crimes, preventing any possibility of [[parole]]. He receives the weekly letter from Nancy as promised. After eight years, however, the letters stop arriving, and then Hartigan receives a severed finger instead. Realizing she could have been kidnapped by the Roarks, Hartigan finally confesses to all charges, knowing this will lead to his release and being able to help Nancy. Outside the jail, he reunites with his old partner, Bob, who has come to regret his actions. Bob drives Hartigan to the city, telling him that Hartigan's wife has remarried and has children. Unknowingly being stalked by a deformed, yellow-skinned man, Hartigan searches for Nancy, eventually finding her at Kadie's Bar, where she has become a 19-year-old [[erotic dancer]] ([[Jessica Alba]]).

Realizing that the severed finger was a fake and that he was set up to lead the Roarks to Nancy, he tries to leave unnoticed but is seen by her, leading her to jump into his arms and kiss him passionately. Knowing they have been "made", they quickly escape in Nancy's car. The yellow-skinned man follows in his own car and shoots at them, but Hartigan shoots back, hitting the yellow-skinned man. When Hartigan and Nancy turn back to confirm the kill, the yellow-skinned man hides in the back of Nancy's car. Arriving at a hotel, Nancy reveals that she is in love with Hartigan and tries to seduce him, much to his discomfort. The deformed man then attacks them again, revealing himself as Junior Roark, though Hartigan now refers to him as the Yellow Bastard.

The Yellow Bastard, having been disfigured by the years of surgery necessary to regenerate his missing pieces, leaves Hartigan for dead, having hanged him, and takes Nancy to the Roark farm to finally rape and kill her. Hartigan escapes, however, and tracks the Yellow Bastard to the farm, where he is whipping and torturing Nancy. Hartigan kills the guards and then corners the Yellow Bastard and fakes a heart attack to fool him into letting go of Nancy, giving Hartigan the chance to stab him before [[Castration|castrating]] him (with his bare hands) and beating him to death.

Hartigan tells Nancy his plans to reveal Senator Roark's corruption to the police and finally bring down organized crime in Sin City, in order to convince her to leave him. After Nancy departs, Hartigan, knowing that this would be impossible, and Roark will never stop hunting them as long as Hartigan lives, then commits [[suicide]] in order to ensure Nancy's safety once and for all. He reminds himself "An old man dies, a young woman lives; fair trade", before shooting himself in the head.

A well made film, for fans of the comic book and the movie, a must see movie. "Gritty... Sexy...Spellbinding.