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.
I feel like I should temper this review by letting you know that I have been very excited for this film since its announcement. The casting announcements only heightened my excitement to the point that when I saw that my local cinema was doing a double screening of the original I leapt at the opportunity. I’ll say it now. I loved this film.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For gives the audience a great mix of old favourites and newcomers in 4, moderately intertwining, stories. We get to see Marv (Mickey Rourke) act with ferocious brutality juxtaposed with his own personal moral code which as in the first movie leaves us yet again rooting for him. Dwight, now played with greater seriousness and strength by Josh Brolin, is fantastic in the titular Dame to Kill for Tale. Dwight and Ava (Eva Green) have a relationship, which is strengthened hugely by Dwight’s surliness being torn to shreds by the sexy, treacherous Ava.
Despite the fact that Dwight, Manute (Dennis Haysbert) and Miho (Jamie Chung) are all played by different actors to the original, the biggest change to a character is with Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba). Gone now is the besotted, naïve damsel in distress, exotic dancer from the first film and in her wake we are left with a colder, crazier, vengeful and more deranged version who is haunted by her saviour Hartigan (Bruce Willis). While her story isn’t as compelling as the longer middle piece, her character is infinitely more interesting and seeing this transformation was worth the price of entry.
All the big names get a moment to shine, even if we sometimes wish they were perhaps given a bit more screen time. Despite us following Johnny (Gordon-Levitt) in The Long, Bad Night this story felt a lot more about the corrupt and sinister Senator Roark (Powers Boothe) and establishing him further as a villain for Nancy’s tale.
Rodriguez has definitely perfected the visual style that he was lauded for 10 years ago and it looks gorgeous in 3D. Whilst not adding many new elements to it other than the 3D it still feels new and different. The black and white mixed with the occasional splashes of colour remain crisp and refreshing. The comic book style visual effects are used at the right moments and never feel tired or overused.
The first person narration from the various characters sometimes does feel a bit clunky compared to before; some of it being a little overly long winded and dramatic to the point where it feels like a parody of some of the first films style, rather than an extension of what made it good. However this is a small complaint and only occasionally does the film veer into this area.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For has a lot of the elements of what made the first film so successful and for the fans of Rodriguez and Miller’s first go there will be no complaints. It does a perfect job of complementing good performances with great scripting, storytelling and all of the sex and brutality that made the first one such a standout film when it hit our screens in 2005. However my one concern is it may fail to entice newcomers or earlier doubters to delve into the world of Basin City.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★
Matt Spencer-Skeen
Originally published August 25, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
