It's an unrivaled vision of hell filled with the most unbelievable amounts of reckless violence maybe not seen in a "mainstream" film since the notoriously ugly "Caligula," and yet… And yet, I have nothing.

	"Sin City" Entertainment Art Directed by Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller Written by Frank Miller Starring Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Jessica Alba, Nick Stahl

Sin City doesn't feature much of a plot to speak of. It consists of three loosely linked short films, featuring some overlapping characters that all live in Basin City ("Sin City," get it?). It's the darkest worldview imaginable, where no one is innocent and it's kill or be killed. Period. Priests, Senators, cops, they're all pedophiles, cannibals and rapists, and it's about as subtle as a knife in the eye. (Or the crotch, as "Sin City" would have it. Castration is a favorite method of execution in the film, and it occurs no less than three times: once by gun, once by ax, and once by, yes, bare hands.)

The aesthetic value of the film was quite impressive, but I also feel like everyone has seen the trailers, and maybe that's all you need to see. It's entirely computer-generated, right down to the colors of the actors' eyes. It's a fascinating gimmick and the patches of color in the gray tapestry (a ruby red dress here, some green, glowing eyes there) are used sparingly and effectively. But ultimately, special effects alone won't keep my interest. The characters are all interesting, fully fleshed-out people, and the actors are stunning (Mickey Rourke, especially). The stories are lacking, slightly, and drag on a bit too long for as thin as they actually are. If about 30 minutes had been shaved off the total 126-minute running time, I think it would have been much tidier and interesting in that respect.

Ultimately, I think "Sin City" is about a person's taking what they consider to be the moral high ground in a situation where it's irrelevant. No matter what you do, you're screwed, and by doing the "right" thing, you're consciously choosing to take that avenue for yourself and yourself only, because ultimately it won't matter. Not a horribly inspiring message, to be sure, but to think about sitting through all of that carnage and hopelessness for no reason whatsoever is too depressing to think about. For a movie that so flagrantly, and almost hatefully, dismisses any notions of PC righteousness there has to be a redeeming value somewhere. Especially since I enjoyed it so much.

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