Sin City is yet another comic book getting the big screen treatment, but it's like nothing we've seen before.

It adapts several of writer/artist (and co-director) Frank Miller's graphic novels a series of adult, hard-boiled crime yarns. And whether you love it or hate it, it's not a film to be ignored.

It follows three main characters, each a local of the pitch-black Basin City. First there's Marv, an unstoppable brawler, killing and torturing his way to the rat who murdered the love of his life. Then there's Dwight, a desperate man struggling to prevent a turf war between the cops, the mob and the city's gun toting community of prostitutes. Finally, in comes Hartigan, one of Sin City's few honest cops. On the eve of his retirement he's hell-bent on rescuing a little girl from a twisted killer; a noble act that will have bloody consequences for years to come.

The film's visuals grab by the throat and don't let go. The stark, high-contrast black and white imagery is dazzlingly effective. After first shooting the actors, most of the film's sets and backdrops were later created by computer. Effects-heavy techniques like this often look fake and unconvincing, but Sin City actually takes advantage of this. It creates a dark, off-kilter world where normal rules don't apply. It's one of the most successful blends of acting and effects in recent memory.

The result is a new kind of film noir, one that sends the rain swept streets and smoke-filled bars of forties' crime movies crashing headlong into modern cinema. The rich splashes of colour a spurt of blood here, a vile yellow sadist there work brilliantly, adding new dimensions to the unforgiving monochrome world.

The script takes the tough-talking clichs of film noir so far that it actually feels remarkably original. The excellent cast play everything completely straight. They spit out their terse dialogue with conviction, letting the gallows humour bleed through naturally and never play to the camera for easy laughs.

And while the violence is thoroughly over the top (think Kill Bill; indeed, Tarantino even directs one sequence), it works perfectly thanks to the highly stylised approach.

With body parts lopped off and blood gushing in gleaming white torrents, Sin City never feels realistic.

It's a violent cartoon world, where the heroes are all hard-as-nails, the equally tough women improbably beautiful (whether prostitutes, pole dancers or parole officers), and the real villains truly loathsome monsters.Mickey Rourke continues his comeback trail with a terrific performance as Marv. As brutal as he is, this lonely, rock-faced bruiser becomes the heart of the film; an unstoppable force of nature out to avenge his lost love. Meanwhile Clive Owen brings steely resolve to Dwight, and Bruce Willis gives the heroic Hartigan a blood-stirring nobility.

Although it does favour style over substance, this film has such style that those criticisms don't carry much weight. Sin City is a visually blistering experience that is simply unlike any other film around. This dark world isn't for everyone, though; murder, mayhem, torture and brutality are all in a night's work in Sin City. Not a nice place to live, then, but a great town for a night out.