The film version is probably the most accurate comic book to film ever made, and it's also one of the best movies I've seen this year so far.
The film is not only amazingly directed by Robert Rodriguez (this is hands-down his best film and I predict it will be copied by new filmmakers for years to come like The Matrix), but all the performances are great (except for Brittany Murphy and Michael Madsen, who ham it up and don't seem to 'get' the material), the visuals are astounding (the black and white with splashes of random color to accentuate certain scenes was a masterstroke), the soundtrack is moody and the flick is just flat out entertaining for its entire 124 minute runtime.
The movie is made up of four interlocking noir-ish stories: the tale of a young hitman (Josh Hartnett), an about-to-retire detective (Bruce Willis) who is on the trail of a child molester (Nick Stahl) who is related to a high powered politician (Powers Booth) and ends up being the crush of one of his young would-be victims (Jessica Alba), the deformed Marv (Mickey Rourke) who is searching for the person who murdered the only woman who ever showed him genuine affection (Jamie King) and the down on his luck loser (Clive Owen) who gets himself involved with a crooked cop (Benicio del Toro) and a pending gang war between a group of tough-as-nails hookers (led by Rosario Dawson and Devon Aoki) and shady gangsters (led by Michael Clarke Duncan). All of these stories combine into a seamless narrative that is fun, darkly disturbing and oddly funny at times.
Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller and guest director Quentin Tarantino have combined forces to make one hell of a flick that will entertain the old, young and the middle-aged (depending on your filmic tastes). I highly recommend you go out and see it as soon as possible. It's creative, original and a total blast!
5 out of 5
*written 4/1/05
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