[Movie Review] Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)
Directors: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
Writer: Frank Miller
Runtime: 102 min
Main Cast:
- Mickey Rourke as Marv
- Jessica Alba as Nancy
- Josh Brolin as Dwight McCarthy
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Johnny
- Rosario Dawson as Gail
- Bruce Willias as Hartigan
- Eva Green as Ava Lord
Review: by Anthony and Lee
When we were still in college, we went to see the original Sin City with a group of our close friends, and we talked about it for days and days afterward. It was like nothing we'd ever seen before. We wondered if there would ever be a sequel, and, when the rumors started years ago that there would be one, we hung on their every word in great anticipation. Finally, it has arrived, and there was no way we were going to miss it.
Based on Frank Miller’s 1993 graphic novel A Dame to Kill For, this Sin City sequel returns to the deadly town of Basin City to tell a collection of stories about some of its major players as well as a few new faces.
What We Liked:
Just like in the original Sin City, the black and white, and random color highlight art style is back and is used in very creative ways. We loved how the selectively highlighted colors could be the ruby red lipstick and blonde curls of a dancer, or the bright green eyes of Ava Lord (Eva Green). It was beautifully done, and it did a wonderful job of masking the horror of its gore.
Following in the footsteps of the first movie, even with all of its violence and bloodshed, Sin City: A Dame to Kill for never felt gory or graphic because of its stylized color; although, there was the one scene with the eye that was pretty gross
The ensemble cast of strong characters, each with their own stories that eventually blended together was another thing that made the original Sin City a hit, and its sequel made no mistake by following suit. There were several stories told over the 102 minutes, but our favorites were “The Long Bad Night” and “A Dame to Kill For,” in which all the new characters to the series got to shine.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Johnny, the cocky “luckiest gambler in the world,” was really good, and his charisma really drove his story from start to finish. We would probably have watched an entire movie simply following his story, which we admit could definitely have been longer.
Josh Brolin as Dwight McCarthy and Eva Green as Ava Lord were simply amazing. Both are fantastic actors who worked almost as wonderfully on screen together as they do in their own separate scenes.
However, Eva Green’s performance really stood out amongst the newcomers. She was equal parts manipulation and beauty, a deadly combination, and her risque character poster that made headlines was nothing compared to her time on screen. In case you didn’t catch what we were saying there, here it is plain. She was naked… a lot.
Finally, we loved the film noir feel of the movie. The expositional narration coupled with the gruff and grizzled voice of a Josh Brolin was perfect. The crazy stories, with their over-the-top action, needed explaining from time to time, and the narration throughout the stories was really amusing.
What We Didn’t Like:
One of the main things that we liked about the movie, the film noir feel, could be off-putting for a lot of people. We personally loved seeing traditionally good actors hamming it up and delivering cheesy lines, but we also see how it could be interpreted simply as just bad acting. If someone went into the movie thinking that it was not taking the comedy angle on film noir, they would think the actors were being serious, and it would be a bad time. The bad acting is bad, but that’s what made it so good. We enjoyed it, but it was worth mentioning here as a warning. Do not take the movie seriously. You will be disappointed.
One of the things we actually did not like were that there were a number of main characters that had to be re-cast. Jamie Chung replaced Devon Aoki due to her pregnancy, and Dennis Haysbert, the Allstate Insurance guy, was added to fill the huge shoes of Michael Clark Duncan, due to his untimely passing before production started. While those re-casting choices were made for admittedly legitimate reasons, we were actually looked forward to seeing Devon Aoki as the quiet and deadly Miho. We also just plain miss Michael Clark Duncan.
Also, there was Lady Gaga, not that she was bad. She was hardly in the movie, but we’re putting her here anyway.
Summary
Everything that made Frank Miller’s Sin City a hit and a fan favorite, has been done again in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. It was not stale. It was not boring. The new stories and characters were interesting, and the hyper stylized art style was a wonderful trip back to the original Sin City. As long as you don’t take it seriously, it is well worth it.
User Review
( votes)Images Courtesy of IMDB
