Movie Forum: From 'Spy Kids' to 'Sin City'

Robert Rodriguez: Quentin is such an amazing director, there was no chance of him screwing anything up, I was more afraid he'd make the scene too good and make Frank and I look like bums, and that's exactly what happened. I figured it wouldn't hurt the movie to have a sequence that was too good, though. And yeah, it was payback for me doing the score for "Kill Bill 2." But also I wanted him to experience what it was like to shoot in hi-def with actors on a green screen. He really enjoyed it.

Boston, MA: It seemed to me that "The Incredibles" owed a lot to "Spy Kids." I know that you (sort of) work for Disney, but did you think the same and if so did it bother you? Robert Rodriguez: It was strange seeing "Incredibles," because I know they'd been working on it for so long, and a lot of ideas are similar. I'm sure they felt worse seeing my movies come out with similar ideas to what they were working on! I know Brad Bird and the guys from Pixar, it wasn't that they were borrowing ideas from "Spy Kids," but the fact that we're fans of the same type of material. We love classic Jonny Quest and James Bond movies, which were really our inspiration for both "Spy Kids" and "Incredibles." The rest are coincidences. Brad Bird and I both had been working on our projects independently for 10 years. Austin, Texas: How hard or easy is it to adapt from a comic book into a movie and what elements of a comic do you hope to translate to the medium of film?

Robert Rodriguez: It's hard to make the images Frank conjured up when you compare it to drawing. It only took Frank pen and inks, with moviemaking, we need all the tricks in the book and new ones to make it happen and to get the feel of his books. We tried to translate everything to cinema, all his visual ideas, and I think we were successful. But it took a lot of trickery.

Highland Falls, NY: What do you lose by being out of the Directors Guild? And what does it mean to have a "special guest director?" Is it a "Four Rooms" (underrated, especially your [Antonio] Banderas sequence) vibe type of thing?

Robert Rodriguez: We just made up our own way of working on this movie. Frank and I were always on set together and tag teamed the actors as far as directing went. I operated the camera as well as did the lighting and effects, so we were always right there with the actors. Quentin came in for a few days to direct certain sequences. We let him take the director reins when he was there. It was terrific fun for the actors to have a "special guest director" those days. Being out of the Directors Guild just lets me have the freedom to experiment like that in the future. What I lose is pretty superficial stuff, like I don't get insurance, residuals, can never be nominated for a directing Oscar, and can't make a movie developed by a studio. I prefer the freedom.

New Orleans, LA: I actually have three questions for you. Two suggested by my husband. 1: Judging by the previews, this is the most comic-book-looking film ever made. Was it difficult to get funding for such a stylistically unique film? 2: How can we, his fans, repay you for getting Mickey Rourke back in mainstream film? 3: Do you have any plans to work with Mickey Rourke again?