Sin City (2005)

Frank Miller’s vision came bursting to (mostly black-and-white) life in this feature co-directed by Miller himself and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez. The film stays remarkably true to the source material, essentially lifiting most of its screenplay directly from the comics. Fusing together three tales from Miller’s comic book series, Sin City unites a stellar ensemble cast that includes Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, and Mickey Rourke as the leading men of this larger-than-life neo-noir classic. The film’s extreme violence and depiction of women have been criticized by some – echoing complaints lodged against Miller’s comics – but its distinctive visual style and imaginativeness managed to lead the film to a worldwide box office gross of $158 million. A sequel followed nine years later, but failed to achieve the same level of success.