"Sin City: A Dame To Kill"For is a film by talented director Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, who is famous for the many iconic comic-book stories he has created over the last four decades. A follow up to 2005’s well-received Sin City , this film continues the live-action adaptation of the popular graphic novels, created by Miller in the early 90’s for publisher Dark Horse Comics, by Rodriguez and Miller.
Picking up somewhat where the 2005 film left off, we are thrust back into hyper-noir city known as, well, Sin City. Most of the main players are back from the first movie, plus the addition of a few new, shadowy faces to liven things up. High stakes poker games, revenge-fueled alcoholism, a lot of mystery and even more murder. This movie knows what it is, and as an adaption of an over-the-top comic-book celebration of noir and all its tropes, it passes with flying colors. Does that mean it is as good as its predecessor, or even a good film at all? Kind of.
This film follows four characters sporadically, and is more a combination of each of those individual stories sort of relating to each other than one coherent plot. First we are introduced to Marv, the violent, 300-pound, 6-foot behemoth of a walking liquor and pill cocktail disguised as a human being played by Mickey Rourke. He wakes up bleeding and at the scene of a terrible car accident, with bodies lying all around him and no recollection of what happened. Next, we see an ever-confident Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Johnny, a high-rolling poker player challenging the only person in town he shouldn’t, local bad guy Senator Roark, played by Powers Booth. Dwight, with Josh Brolin featuring as the hard-broiled no-nonsense fool, gets caught up in his past and is coerced into a shady situation by an old girlfriend, portrayed by the striking Eva Green. And then, of course there is Jessica Alba’s Nancy, still reeling from the events of the 2005 film and itching to do something about it.
As noted before, this is a pulpy film noir that shamelessly accentuates its noir features by a thousand. Unbridled cynicism and fatalism with a dose of moral ambiguity for every protagonist? Check. Hard men drinking even harder as they figure their way around various crimes? Check. A mysterious woman and possible femme fatal? Check. This film really feels like a personal project by Rodriguez and Miller, born out of love for the source material and almost unconcerned with what everyone else thinks about it.
It takes what was liked in the first film and gives us plenty more, including the unique stylistic choices (the film is shot in mostly black and white, with the occasional pops of color like a police siren or Green’s beautiful green eyes) and tough-talking inner monologue narrations, but what was once fresh and exciting now feels sort of repetitive and worn out.
If you go into this keeping in mind it is a labor of love, created by two men who wanted to bring a comic book they love (or created, in Miller’s case) to life on the big screen and enjoy it for what it is, a faithful and entertaining adaptation, then it can be an enjoyable experience.
I certainly enjoyed the film, even if I wouldn’t necessarily call it good.
"Sin City: A Dame To Kill For" was released in theaters in August of 2014 and is now available to be seen via purchase or rental at various stores and digital outlets.
