Sin City

Sin City is simply the best  action movie ever. Raiders of the Lost Ark is an action movie, but has different levels of meaning to it and different tinges of genre. Sin City, however, is purely an action film. It is quite horrific and cruel, a noir film in the classic tradition of being fucked at the beginning. There are three stories in Sin City. The first is of Bruce Willis' character. He's a cop who's trying to protect a girl from a nepotism protected pedophile. Willis is cool and languid, evoking sternness and age. The second story is of Marv (Mickey Rourke) an ugly disgusting man who seeks revenge for the death of Goldie (a whore with a heart of gold). Marv is the toughest character in movie history. He stomps through windshields of moving cars, fights rotweilers and saws slices of his enemies off. The third story involves Clive Owen's character going after a corrupt cop. Clive Owen has never and will never again be so cool. He drives sexy cars from the 50's and is meaner than shit. The movie is also one of the best looking movies of recent years. It was shot digitally and is very, very clean, dark, and creative with color. Now, a film can be as brutal as hell (see Hostel) and still suck. But it is the noir aspect of Sin City that allows it to succeed. Also the acting and direction.
Sin City: ★★★★