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Review: Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

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Nine years is a long time to wait for a sequel. In that length of time, we’ve had the entire Marvel movie-verse be constructed, and both the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man films end only to be rebooted again. But nine years is how long its taken for Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller to come out with the second in the Sin City series with Sin City: A Dame To Kill For. Sharing in much of the same pastiche as its predecessor, Dame To Kill For contains four more tales of neo-noir set against the backdrop of the inescapable depths of depravity in Basin City; ‘Just Another Saturday Night’ and ‘A Dame To Kill For’, based directly on stories from the comics, while ‘The Long Bad Night’ and ‘Nancy’s Last Dance’ have been freshly written by Miller and Rodriguez for this installment. Many of the surviving members of the first film also return, with Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis and Powers Booth being the most notable and who now stand alongside newcomers such as Joseph-Gordon Levitt, Josh Brolin and Eva Green to provide a MAvhefty and varied ensemble cast. With a stronger emphasis on mood and exposition, Rodriguez and Miller have cultivated a strong sequel, but not quite strong enough.
Beginning, as is to be expected, with a violent and hard-hitting short story featuring Marv (Mickey Rourke), there’s very little to be desired for the returning strengths of how Sin City looks and feels. The 2005 original remains a cinematographic powerhouse with its blend of animation and real-life and the almost perverse use of color through-out to really drive home crucial moments and add variety to the black and white pallette and this 2014 sequel has all of that still intact. Marv narrates us through a hazy night of what’s a regular evening in his life; bar fights, booze and a hefty slice of brutality courtesy of Old Town as its reaffirmed for those who may not have seen the first one, no-one escapes Sin City. As the inter-woven plot continues from here, the varied characters and disparate situations grow only darker and more delightfully dis-heartening.
We meet Johnny (Joseph-Gordon Levitt), whose a gambler with a lucky streak that won’t end whose determined to take down the big boss, Powers Boothe’s Senator Roarke. He soon manages to charm a young waitress played by Julia Garner, and so he goes. Johnny’s story bookends the main tale, the namesake of the film, ‘A Dame To Kill For’, which is led by Josh Brolin’s Dwight. A classic noir setup complete with corrupt cops, a sexy conniving seductress and a whole lot of bashed heads, Dame is a more exposition heavy story than the Sin City fair of before. With co-stars such as Eva Green and a stand-out performance from Christopher Meloni, there’s very little to be desired for captivating presences.
While there’s still a fair share of combat, there’s a greater emphasis on how the characters interact and how they treat each other as both friends and enemies. Stylistically still strong, this is where the weakness in the film lies – there’s too much dialog right in the middle of the film that doesn’t counter-balance against the CnnvYGyaction-packed front and back ends. The delivery can’t be faulted, but the script loses some momentum that the returning Johnny and Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) then try to make up for in their respective stories. Far from boring, there’s simply a subtle contrast that doesn’t quite keep the pacing intact.
But overall, there’s very little not to recommend from Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, if you can see it on the big screen. Rodriguez is still a stylistic genius, capturing a tone and mood unlike any other film with this series of neo-noir tales that continue to emulate the source material with startling success. There’s even a game of mind bingo to be played spotting the famous co-stars (there’s two in particular that should make you guffaw with glee). Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez continue to be a powerful film-making team, even if it takes them nine years to cultivate a sequel. If you enjoyed the first one, you will enjoy this one, if not quite as much. If you haven’t seen the first, this is a perfect taster to see if its your thing.

An impressive sequel, despite a lagging middle act. 8/10

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