The only comic book movie Quentin Tarantino respects
Since unveiling Reservoir Dogs in 1992, Quentin Tarantino has solidified his position as one of cinema’s most distinctive directors. Renowned for his dialogue-rich scripts and stylised approach to violence, the filmmaker has cultivated a devoted following, elevating him to one of cinema’s most iconic figures.
Tarantino’s hallmark has always been his obsessive attention to detail, reflected in the meticulously crafted nature of his films, a testament to his profound passion for the art of cinema. Whether navigating the gritty terrains or Hollywood landscapes, his body of work consistently radiates a uniquely Tarantino-esque essence, transcending genre boundaries and challenging cultural or historical themes.
Famously against superhero and comic book movies, as he deems them not “real cinema”, there’s one film that captured his attention and respect. Discussing an experience on set when he praised Sin City, particularly the prowess of Mickey Rourke, he explained how the adaptation mastered the art of comic book cinema.
He said: “I was on the set of a movie that was doing a comic book, and they were doing it in motion capture. I was talking to the director, and he was saying, ‘You see, things like this, you can only do a graphic novel or comic book exactly the way it was done.’ That’s never been done before. He goes, ‘Well, Sin City kind of did it’. I didn’t contradict him; I said, ‘No, Sin City did exactly what you’re talking about.'”
He also discussed how Rourke contributed to its main appeal, explaining, “Sin City, especially the character of Marv, would be the perfect candidate for a motion capture thing because it’s like, who can play that? If we can just draw that character and have a guy walk through it, then it’ll be perfect. Except, you wouldn’t have that Mickey Rourke performance, so Robert [Rodriguez] didn’t do that.”
Continuing: “He actually cast an actor and turned him into Marv, and Mickey Rourke was great, and it’s why everyone remembers Sin City. As great as it is, it’s Mickey Rourke’s phenomenal performance that blew us out of our socks.”
Among films in its specific genre, Sin City stands out as one of the few that Tarantino appreciated and praised. In a 2022 interview with Howard Stern, Tarantino was asked about his perspective on superhero movies, expressing that, had they been as prevalent in the 1980s as they are today, he, being a comic book enthusiast, likely would have been a fan.
However, the director currently has little interest in contemporary superhero films, citing that they heavily rely on excessive special effects in post-production. He explained, “I’ve never really been a big ‘do a bunch of special effects later’ kind of guy. I come from the idea that if you didn’t shoot it on the day, it doesn’t count.”
He continued: “We’re there with the crew, the actors. We shot it on the day, we sent the film to the lab, it came back, it’s done. Now you can do little, tiny things, but I’m very about practical effects. I work with makeup effects, and I work with animatronic effects.”
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