A hell of a town.
The H-Bomb: A cocky young gambler (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) crashes the wrong poker game and winds up on the bad side of a very powerful man. Bottom feeding private eye, Dwight (Josh Brolin), gets involved in the duplicitous dealings of an ex-flame, Ava Lord (Eva Green), and lives to regret it. Gorgeous stripper, Nancy (Jessica Alba), seeks revenge against the man responsible for the death of John Hartigan (Bruce Willis), the cop who saved her life many years ago. In the middle of all this madness is Marv (Mickey Rourke), the scarred up street thug with a heart of gold, who has a knack for finding trouble wherever he goes. These are but a few of the disreputable denizens who populate the mean, green screen streets of Basin City, the town where if you turn the right back alley, you can find anything.
Just to get it out of the way, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is, for better or worse, very much a more-of-the-same sequel. When I first saw the original way back in 2005, my ass was flat out fucking floored by what could best be described as a Film Noir on steroids; with its hyper-stylized visuals, its outlandish violence, and its overall hard edged vibe. Nothing like it had been seen before, but it has been seen plenty of times since.
Now, in the year 2014, director Robert Rodriguez re-teams with co-director Frank Miller to bring more of Miller’s hard boiled tales to the big screen. It has the same black & white look- this time in 3D- the same insane level of ultra-violence, and the same lurid atmosphere. But it lacks much of the potency of the original, and what’s worse, the freshness is gone. As hard as Rodriguez and Miller try to recapture what made their first Sin City film so kick ass fucking awesome, the novelty just isn’t there anymore.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a wildly brutal ride, with an interweaving, multi-story narrative that seems to take place before, during, and after the events of the original Sin City… I practically tied my brain into knots trying to sort out the chronology of everything going on in here, my advice to you, dear reader, is to not even bother. There are enough shootings, beatings, and beheadings to fill ten trashy pulp novels, and Eva Green’s breasts make a very welcome addition to the shadowy, CGI backdrop. This place is still one hell of a town, and I had a hell of a time going back there… it just wasn’t nearly as exciting as my first visit.
Looking over the cast of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, I’m surprised at the number of returning roles that were recast. Dennis Haysbert replaces the late Michael Clarke Duncan, as the menacing Manute, for obvious reasons, but there’s also Jamie Chung replacing Devon Aoki as the silent, deadly little Miho, and, in an odd turn, Jeremy Piven stepping in for Michael Madsen as the shifty cop, Bob. Brolin takes over the role of Dwight from Clive Owen, but since that character’s backstory involves extensive plastic surgery, it makes narrative sense, and as far as acting talent goes, it’s an even swap.
As the titular dame to kill for, Green absolutely sizzles. Endowed with the smoldering looks of a femme fatale, she portrays the double-crossing Ava with a sense of deadly cool. And my God, those dirty pillows of hers… it’s easy to see why she has the power over men that she does. The other main newcomer to the cast, Gordon-Levitt, I was a bit disappointed by. Not by his performance, which is perfectly stellar, but the fact that he’s completely wasted in this movie. He’s not given much to do, and the way his story arc plays out is highly unsatisfactory. Wasting the great Gordon-Levitt like this is a Sin that I simply cannot forgive.
As for the returning cast members, I’d have to give Alba the back-handed award for “Most Improved.” She was terrible in the original. Truly, truly terrible. This time, as the vengeance minded Nancy, she’s not half bad. It’s nothing that’s going to nab her an Oscar nod, but at least her line deliveries didn’t have me cringing or laughing unintentionally. Willis is relegated to a few fleeting appearances, while Powers Boothe, who only had a cameo the first time around, gets a much larger role, as the sinister Senator Roark, that he plays with relish.
Of the entire cast, the one true standout is Mickey Rourke, as the neanderthal wrecking ball that is Marv. Never mind that he got the electric chair in the first movie, Marv is back, baby! Back to kick ass, crack skulls, and gouge out the occasional eyeball… and he makes it all look so damn fun. Rourke is every bit the force of nature he was the last time around, and I loved every second he was on screen. He may be ugly as fuck, but goddamn is he a blast to watch. He is easily my favorite aspect of this movie… aside from Eva Green’s breasts.
What else can be said for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For? It’s another Sin City movie, plain and simple. If you enjoyed the first one, odds are you’ll dig this one, too. If you’re one of those uptight ninnies who poo-pooed the original, you can skip it. As for myself, while this Dame did show me a grand old time, it lacked the visceral punch that made that first neo-noir nightmare such a wickedly fun trip.
