Movie · 2005 · Crime, Thriller · 2h 4m · R · English
Curator score: 6.5/10 (1.2M ratings)
There is no justice without sin.
Overview
Welcome to Sin City. This town beckons to the tough, the corrupt, the brokenhearted. Some call it dark… 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.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.5/10
IMDb: 8.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.70/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Metacritic: 74
TMDB: 7.5/10
Director
Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller
Production
Dimension Films, Troublemaker Studios, Miramax
Cast
Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Rutger Hauer, Benicio del Toro, Alexis Bledel, Michael Madsen, Powers Boothe, Nick Stahl, Devon Aoki, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino, Josh Hartnett, Jaime King, Brittany Murphy, Elijah Wood, Jude Ciccolella, Jeff Dashnaw
Where to watch
MGM Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A highly stylized neo-noir comic-book adaptation that still feels distinctive for its stark black-and-white visuals, hardboiled narration, and pulpy violence. The plotting is uneven and the macho, misogynistic edge is a real barrier for some viewers, but the formal invention and atmosphere make it a memorable watch for the right audience.
Best for
neo-noir fans
comic-book adaptation enthusiasts
stylized violence and visual experimentation
hardboiled crime stories
Robert Rodriguez completists
Skip if
you want nuanced female characters
you dislike hyper-stylized violence
you prefer grounded realism
you’re sensitive to misogynistic writing
you need a tightly coherent plot
Overview
Sin City is one of the rare comic-book adaptations that feels like it is trying to become the page itself. The black-and-white palette, sharp bursts of color, and heavy narration create a feverish pulp-noir world that is instantly recognizable and still impressive as a piece of visual design.
Worth noting
The movie’s biggest strength is also its limitation: it commits so hard to its hardboiled, macho fantasy that the characters can feel like archetypes more than people. For viewers who enjoy lurid crime fiction, brutal revenge tales, and formal bravado, that excess is part of the appeal.
Bottom line
It’s not a subtle film, and it doesn’t really want to be. If you’re in the mood for a comic-book noir that prioritizes atmosphere, attitude, and graphic style over emotional depth, this is an easy recommendation. If you’re not, its self-conscious cool can wear thin fast.
Top Letterboxd reviews
cinemasauron (4★) · 1210 likes
Adapting a comic book series to film is one thing but translating it into a live-action motion picture in a manner that it brings the pages to life in an almost literal sense while mirroring the events frame to frame is something truly extraordinary. And that's what Sin City is: something never done before, something never seen before, and something never experienced before.
Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel series of the same name, Sin City is presented in 3… more
Silent J (5★) · 961 likes
"Care for a smoke?"
My (film noir-ish) reaction to the film-
Night time. A little after 8:00 PM.Lousy dogs barking outside loud enough to be heard outside this lousy town, but they don't matter. At least not at the moment because I just got done revisiting a goddess...She calls herself City...Sin City to be exact. She's not like any other of those comic broads you see in those graphic novels. I always thought graphic novel was just some… more
RobotPolarBear (1★) · 957 likes
"She's a dyke, but God knows why. With that body of hers she could have any man she wants."
Second (forced) viewing and this is still utter dreck - shallow, mean-spirited, gimmicky, misogynistic, and obnoxiously edgy for the sake of it all the time without a break. It's the kind of laughably cartoonish crapsack worldbuilding that you'd expect from a 12-year-old trying to write "the darkest, most bloodiest story ever!", and said 12-year-old would still have had too much dignity… more
matt lynch (2★) · 850 likes
merely duplicating the frames isn't sufficient to recontextualize Miller's frozen gravity, his temporal snapshots. all that's left is a fealty to his brutish, stupid masculinity. noir is more than black and white bleakness but Rodriguez never met an aesthetic he couldn't half-ass. nothing's worth doing if you can't greenscreen it in your garage.
🌻 lindsay 🌻 (1★) · 813 likes
I’ve heard about how cool the style of this movie is and it lived up to those expectations. The over the top noir with only splashes of color occasionally was so cool. If only the story was just as good!
There’s so much narration and it’s all just from brooding, gross men. What this movie lacks in color, it makes up for in misogyny. I feel like this movie was trying so hard to be edgy but instead it was… more
1994 · Thriller, Crime, Comedy · 2h 34m · R · Curator 9.5/10 (6.5M ratings) · Where to watch: Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, MGM Plus
Shares the fractured crime storytelling, dark humor, and pop-noir swagger, with a similarly iconic sense of cool.
2000 · Mystery, Thriller · 1h 53m · R · Curator 9.1/10 (3.2M ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Peacock Premium Plus
For viewers drawn to nonlinear structure and obsessive revenge logic, with a colder, more cerebral edge.