The Red Circle

“Sin City is the best comic book movie ever made.”

Whenever you make a statement like that, you always find yourself looking over your shoulder, trying to make sure you didn’t forget to include some masterpiece that someone’s going to nail you for. When you’re prone to making bold statements like I am, people are always looking to nail you on the things you say. With the recent nice crop of comic book movies, I knew this comment (which was made as a part of a larger discussion on Zach Snyder’s Watchmen), wouldn’t be allowed to stand even for a few seconds.

But damn it, I was right. I wasn’t even basing it on the fact that it brought the amazing Mickey Rourke out of obscurity (yeah, it was Sin City, not The Wrestler ya jerks) It was simply not possible, in my estimation, to make a film that more closely resembled the original author’s intent. Frank Miller – already known the world over by guys of the more overweight and pimply persuasion as a Comic Book God – was not only included, but reportedly given free reign over nearly every aspect of the film. The film’s actual director, Robert Rodriguez seemed to exist only to lend the film credibility in the entertainment circles that had not yet heard of Mr. Miller and to instruct Frank of the finer points of filmmaking. Rodriguez refused to do the film without Miller’s involvement and when the Director’s Guild of America refused to allow Miller (not a DGA member) to be credited alongside a DGA Member, Rodriguez quit the Director’s Guild to allow the credit to stand.

When an already great comic book made by a single artist/writer is given film treatment using that comic book as the film’s storyboards and uses that same artist/writer to direct that film, you can be darn sure that that film pretty closely resembles that comic book. But you don’t have to take my word for it:

Sure enough, the comment wasn’t allowed to stand. My old friend and The Red Circle founder Tom Nix would be quick to point out: Sin City adds nothing to its existing mythos. It is, he says, too close to the original material. If you have read the comic books, you have seen the film and vice-versa. You will gain no new knowledge, there is no added story, and the only insight about the characters you will receive is found in the nuances of the incredible actors Miller and Rodriguez brought along for the ride (Standout in this area Benicio Del Toro as Jackie Boy seems to be having quite a good time on his ride, indeed). It is simply a faithful retelling of three of the graphic novels already in the Sin City canon with elements of a fourth. It did not, as as with the mighty fine Iron Man for instance, retell and update an old story for a new audience or tell a new story with old characters as in the case of the most recent Batman film. From this perspective, it’s easy to compare Sin City to the Star Wars re-releases from the late 90s: “Neat, but haven’t we been here before?”

The answer of course, though, is “No, we haven’t.” I’m a self-professed comic book geek, but even I hadn’t gotten around to reading every volume of Sin City graphic novels before the film’s release. Dark Horse comics aren’t exactly prominently displayed at your local newsstand. Plus, only a select few were aware of the comics existence to begin with. This was gong to be a new story to a lot of people. According to Robert Rodriguez, me, and everyone I know who’s taken the time to read the graphic novels- it’s an awesome story that didn’t need to be changed. It just needed a larger audience. We don’t need to spend a whole lot of screen time on Peter getting bitten by the radioactive spider because everyone knows that story. We just need to hurry up and get to the “twhip, twhip!” But we do need to spend a fair amount of time establishing Hartigan’s feelings for little Nancy Callahan. Fortunately Miller was forward-thinking enough to include a bunch of “bang, bang!” in that origin story so it never, ever drags.

But I do understand Mr. Nix’s point: it is, from a certain point of view, the worst comic book movie possible. A photocopied retelling of a story already told, just with frames filling in the spaces that comic books deem too boring to depict. Whatever Watchmen‘s flaws, at least it was a new perspective. No matter how much Lord of the Rings resembled the source material, at least we were far enough removed from the original publication date that it was at introducing the material to a new generation (and the original story didn’t have many pictures). Even the most recent Sin City yarn first hit shelves less than a decade ago.

The difference, of course, is one used many times by my main man Denny Crane: “Name on the door.” This isn’t a retelling of some author’s work- this is the same author using a new medium- a medium he personally didn’t have the skills to use ten years ago, a medium that didn’t even exist in the same form ten years ago (I was in video school ten years ago, guess how much now-useless information about analog tape and celluloid film I paid for). In that way, it has even more in common with the Star Wars re-releases from the late 90s. You can cry all you want about Han shooting first, but if the author says “I’ve changed my mind, Greedo shot first,” well.. he’s the author. Discussion ends.

Fortunately, Miller resisted the temptation to make Greedo shoot first in his retelling. Everyone still shoots everyone quickly enough that it’s far too difficult and just not worth the effort to distinguish the order. The world looks just like the world would look if God had taken an art class taught by Frank Miller. As an artist, that’s the absolute best you can hope for, as a director, that’s what I’d be shooting for, but I suppose that’s a matter of philosophy.

But the main reason I love this movie: Every time – and I mean every time – Jackie Boy says “Nobody ever really quits. A smoker’s a smoker when the chips are down. And your chips are down.”

It just gets me, man.

Of course, that scene was directed as a favor to Robert Rodriguez by Quentin Tarantino, so maybe I need to rethink my entire argument.

Flip Sides to read Tom Nix’s alternate take right here.

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