Film Review: ‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’ Breaks No New Ground

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CHICAGO – When the first “Sin City” (2005) was released – based on the graphic novels by Frank Miller – the conversion of a film to a noir-like comic book atmosphere was pioneering. The sequel “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” has heightened that look, but this time has much less to say.

HollywoodChicago.com Oscarman rating: 3.0/5.0
Rating: 3.0/5.0

With an all-star cast, and leftover revenge factors from the first film, co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller – with a guest director credit from Quentin Tarantino – pile on the quality kills, nudity and extreme gunplay. This plays fine for the 15-year-old boy in all of us, but doesn’t challenge itself beyond that commonality, and the film suffers from a redundancy that starts to draw away even from the super hyper, black-and-white city of darkness. “Sin City” still packs a jolt to the senses, but once the first wave hits, the rest hit the shore with diminishing power.

This is a “meanwhile” plot, divided like stories in a comic book, all set in Sin City. In “Just Another Saturday Night,” Marv (Mickey Rourke) tries to remember how he got to a point on a highway, surrounded by dead men. Meanwhile, in “The Long Bad Night,” a gambler named Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) takes on Senator Roark (Powers Boothe) in a huge poker game, with his good luck charm Marcie (Julie Garner).

In the episode “A Dame to Kill For,” Dwight (Josh Brolin) tries to stay away from his former lover Ava (Eva Green), but returns to try and get her away from her husband and his massive body guard Manute (Dennis Haysbert). Finally, in “Nancy’s Last Dance,” Marv and stripper Nancy (Jessica Alba) avenge the suicide of John Hartigan (Bruce Willis) by going after his enemy, Senator Roark.

“Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” opens everywhere on August 22nd in 3D and regular screenings. See local listings for theaters and show times. Featuring Mickey Rourke, Josh Brolin, Jessica Alba, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis, Eva Green, Powers Boothe, Dennis Haybert, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Julie Garner and Christopher Lloyd. Written by Frank Miller. Directed by Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez, with special guest director Quentin Tarantino. Rated “R”

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For”

Eva Green
Dame Ava (Eva Green) Beguiles Dwight (Josh Brolin) in ‘Sin City: A Dame to Kill For’
Photo credit: The Weinstein Company

StarContinue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For”

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