That puritanism and porno-sadism are deeply linked in America could hardly be better illustrated than by the timing of Sin City’s release on April 1. Its appearance one day after the death of the unfortunate Terri Schiavo—the preservation of whose vegetative condition had set off the reactionary attack dogs of the Christian Right and the Republican Party—and one day before the demise of Pope John Paul II—whose passing occasioned an outburst of religiosity such as this country has perhaps never before witnessed—was of course coincidental. But its appearance in the midst of these attempts to eliminate the separation of church and state and turn America into a quasi-theocracy is far from accidental. At first glance, it may seem unlikely, but the makers of Sin City and theocrats in Washington and elsewhere share certain core beliefs: in the advanced moral decay and anarchy of modern society, the worthlessness of the existing democratic political forms to stem this decay and anarchy and, underlying everything, the essential rottenness of human nature (after all, this is Sin City). Of course, the former apparently wallow happily in these facts of life while the latter deplore them.

Disorientation, panic and a sense of being overwhelmed by events grip a good many people, not only in fundamentalist circles, but in the pseudo-artistic world as well. American society and culture, in grave crisis, are vomiting up everything retrograde, diseased and long-since discredited. And the critics? Oh, the critics can always be counted upon! “Brilliant,” writes one prominent figure. “Savage, sexy and ferociously funny,” says another. A third: “I loved it, I loved it, I loved it.” In the future, looking back at the cultural landscape of our time, people will simply shake their heads.

Why should it be necessary to read a comic book before understanding a movie? You didn't need a movie (or series of lectures or training manual) to understand the comic book. So the movie failed precisely where the comic book succeeded.

The rating at Rottentomatoes currently is "7.9/10". That alone demonstrates that their "percentage rating" is useless to find out about the quality of a film.