Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, 2014
Directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller
Starring Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Eva Green, Powers Boothe, Ray Liotta, Dennis Haysbert, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, Jaime King, Juno Temple, Christopher Lloyd, Lady Gaga, Stacy Keach and Jamie Chung
SYNOPSIS:
Some of Sin City’s most hard-boiled citizens cross paths with a few of its more reviled inhabitants.
It’s been nearly ten years since we last visited Basin City and some feel that the decade absence has dampened a lot of the hype and interest in its sequel, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. But the directing team of Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller were not going to let that stop them as they bring perhaps the most popular book from the Sin City cannon to the big screen with some old faces, some new faces and even some replaced faces. And do you know what, they haven’t missed a beat.
Unlike the first movie which had three books told in succession that were then bookended by short stories, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For sets up all three of its main stories in the first act, making it seem as though A Dame to Kill For, Just Another Saturday Night and the newly written The Long, Bad Night are happening at the same time, or at least around the same time. Neither story intertwines with each other like Pulp Fiction, but they all carry similar settings and characters to immerse you into this depraved and crime-ridden world. Because of this, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For does flow a lot better than its predecessor.
The A Dame to Kill For story is like the Empire Strikes Back of the Sin City comic books in that it’s usually the one fans put forward as their favourite of the series and Rodriguez and Miller have done a great job bringing it to the big screen. It’s just as sexy, stylish and effortlessly cool as the source material with Josh Brolin and Eva Green nailing their characters. Some will note that it is disappointing that they didn’t bring back Clive Owen for the post-surgery Dwight, but Brolin is so charismatic and suave that it’s a nitpick to complain about it. Back when the movie was first announced in 2006, Angelina Jolie was the apparent front runner for the role of Ava Lord but thankfully we got Eva Green instead. Brolin may be a huge star on screen, but Green steals every scene from him and gives the perfect sultry performance for the role. Christopher Meloni is also great as the good-cop-gone-bad Mort while Jeremy Piven is an adequate replacement for Michael Madsen.
Perhaps it’s a problem that the A Dame to Kill For segment is so good because it actually makes the other two stories feel inferior. There is nothing wrong with either The Long, Bad Night or Nancy’s Last Dance, the latter of which serves as a great follow-on from That Yellow Bastard from the previous movie, but they aren’t as good as the “main story” of the movie. In fact, they could have just focused on A Dame to Kill For and an audience would not have felt short changed. Still, Joseph Gordon-Levitt does his best to act cool while still looking like Tommy from Third Rock From The Sun and Jessica Alba really pushes her acting abilities as the now troubled and revenge-fuelled Nancy. Both stories are well told and are short enough that they don’t labour the point after the violence and gore filled A Dame to Kill For.
The long production delays and time lapse between movies has not hurt Sin City: A Dame to Kill For in any way shape or form. As soon as the first frame hits the screen, that first jazzy note blasts out the speakers and that first flash of black and white hits your eyes you are instantly brought back to that world of stylish visuals and it feels great to revisit. It is arguably a film that is more style than substance, but it’s so unashamed of its ultra violent neo-noir beginnings that it’s a joy to see it never shy away from what makes it awesome. It’s not trying to tap into a mainstream audience, it’s just being what it is. While credit has been given for “great performances” (in this review alone), this is not Guy Pearce in The Rover or Tom Hardy in Locke. Everyone on screen has been better elsewhere, but none of that seems to matter when you’re part of Sin City‘s world.
If you were not a fan of the first Sin City, then there is nothing in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For that will change your mind. This is more of the same of what we had 10 years ago, but it’s still stylish, it’s still cool, it’s still sexy and it’s a really great sequel to an awesome movie. The returning cast don’t even look like they’ve aged a day and all of the new cast don’t look out of place, even in the case of Dennis Haysbert who had to replace the sadly deceased Michael Clarke Duncan. Perhaps Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is eight years or so too late, but it’s great to have it back.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Luke Owen is the Deputy Editor of Flickering Myth and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.
Originally published August 20, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
