Ain't gonna play Sun City

[cyrano]

I admire the artistic intent, and one of my fellow moviegoers compared it to Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow in that respect (and eventually we both compared it to Once Upon a Time in Mexico), and I'm glad that the rest of the group seemed to enjoy it. But in general, it reminded me of reading a Mickey Spillane novel with Robert Rodriguez doing his genius camera stuff. A caveat, here, in that I haven't read anything of Frank Miller's and that may have lent itself to the enjoyment of the film. But.
The dialogue was clunky and somewhat painful. It may have looked good written in a dialogue bubble, but it failed to translate well for me. The actors' delivery didn't help any. I am more likely to blame direction than talent in this case.
The violence was... vivid, ubiquitous, lurid and in your face, but at the same time so cartoon-like and overdone that it had almost no emotional impact on me. Oh, I said to myself, more blood and more dismemberment. I remember, after one of many castrations, thinking that reading the Invisible Man's death in LoEG had far more impact on me.
And yes, one of many. Frank Miller, he likes him some penis chopping. Which nicely balances the Mike Hammer-esq treatment of women in the film. They seem to be there mostly for the slapping around and for the inspiring of men, who actually do things. There's the United Prostitutes Federation where lots of ninja girls kick much butt, because the police let them, but that's about it on the empowerment section.
Seeing Alexis Bledel as a whore was an interesting change from her popular television persona, but I admit I expected more from the reports I'd heard about Elijah Wood's presence. (Interesting note: I've just been to IMDB and they spell Cardinal Rourk and Senator Roark differently despite their being brothers.)

I liked the look, I liked the style. Rodriguez does movie magic with the technical aspects of his films, and this one doesn't disappoint on that aspect. I admire the concept of 'putting a comic book on the movie screen' rather than making a movie based on a comic book. Benicio Del Toro as a dead guy was fun. And I laughed at the HHGttG meta-trailer.

All in all, Coyote Says Two Wags.

Comments

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen it yet. Will have to decide for my self later.

Bloody troublemaker! Consume! Obey!