SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR review by Ronnie Malik – Rodriguez & Miller give us more noir

SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR review by Ronnie Malik – Rodriguez & Miller give us more noir

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SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR

Director: Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller

Cast: Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Joesph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis, Eva Green, Powers Boothe, Dennis Haysbert, Ray Liotta, Christopher Lloyd, Jeremy Piven, Jamie King, Juno Temple, Marton Csokas, Jude Ciccolella, Jamie Chung, Julia Garner, Lady Gaga, Patricia Vonne

Rating: B

Stylish, innovative, slick, and thrilling would describe the 2005 film SIN CITY, based on the graphic novel written and illustrated by Frank Miller. Director Robert Rodriguez, known for famously gritty films like GRINDHOUSE, DESPERADO and ONCE UPON A TIME IN MEXICO, brought to life Miller’s graphic novel in an impressive never-before-seen art form on the silver screen. With its strong cast, SIN CITY was an artistic delight. After a long 9-year wait, Miller and Rodriguez team up again to bring us the sequel, SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR.

Like its predecessor, this installment uses film noir storytelling with graphic cut-out comic book images to unfold three narratives’ that overlap and connect all the seedy characters. Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an over-confident cocky gambler on a winning streak, wants to take down the corrupt and ruthless senator Roark (Powers Boothe) in the ultimate poker game taking place in the back room of a strip club. In the main bar, alcoholic exotic dancer Nancy (Jessica Alba) grieves the loss of the love of her life, Hartigan (Bruce Willis), while her fraternal protector Marv (Mickey Rourke) watches over the troubled showgirl. Dwight (Josh Brolin), a rough and tough private eye, growls his way through his love/hate relationship with the red lipped seductress Ava (Eva Green), who, knowing just the right buttons to push, takes advantage of her lovesick man’s obsession and gets Dwight to do her unscrupulous bidding.

The interaction between Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Powers Boothe is intense and beautifully played out by the two actors as their characters go head to head to outsmart each other. There are many female characters influencing the men in this sordid tale of revenge. But, for the most part the women are weak and disappointing. Jessica Alba, who does nothing but swig a vodka bottle and wiggle and giggle just about every body part she owns, does not quite pull off her character’s preoccupation to avenge Hartigan’s death. As an actress Alba just did not seem to have the grit needed to pull off her character’s grief and need for vengeance. Rosario Dawson, Juno Temple, Jamie Chung, just to name a few, are all nothing more than eye candy with no character development, and are easily forgotten. Eva Green, however, makes you sit up and notice. Not because she is stark naked through most of her scenes, but because she plays evil with gusto and style and becomes a deliciously dark manipulative villain in the film. Most would agree that Green is very beautiful, but having her strut around in her birthday suit actually got old and a little ridiculous. More time should’ve been spent giving Green some more lines so that her character could have really stolen the show. It is a ton of fun to see Josh Brolin and Mickey Rourke beating the crap out of the bad guys when all odds say they should have been dead by the time the first third of the movie was over.

Bruce Willis plays Hartigan as a Ghost trying to reassure his love Nancy that he will always be by her side. Somehow, Willis comes across flat and looking very bored with his part in the movie – maybe he had enough of playing a spirit from his role in THE SIXTH SENSE.

The look of the sequel to SIN CITY is done in 3D by way of monochromatic scenery with streaks of color that pop out, creating some beautiful imagery. Once again we have the dark smoky streets filled with the smell of something bad while the jazz music plays in the background. Gloomy and foreboding, one never knows what danger lurks around the corners of the city. The action sequences have that comic book look as white blood and guts fly across the screen against the sounds of crushing skulls and slashing body parts.

There are several fun cameos in the film that will we be a special treat for many fans. Despite the overall amazing cast, the movie does fall flat and lacks the wow factor of the first film. The problem with this installment is there are so many side characters and small side stories going on that the production never stops long enough for audiences to really get engaged in the main storylines. The three tales that collide together have no real depth and provide no satisfaction for viewing audiences. Although the film looks like a visual wonder, there is nothing new and it almost feels like a repeat of the first SIN CITY. Despite its issues, SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR has enough intriguing and outrageous moments in the film to keep moviegoers entertained. If good old fashioned corruption, lust, revenge, and violence is what you are looking for, then you’re sure to get your fill with Rodriguez and Miller’s latest endeavor.

SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR opens August 22, 2014

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