Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)

Almost ten years later, writer/directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller try to strike gold again with a second screen adaptation of the Sin City graphic novels.

Unfortunately, A Dame to Kill For suffers from all the afflictions of a bad sequel: an overcomplicated plot forcing a resolved story forward, recasting of previous roles and the addition of new but significantly less compelling characters, and exploiting the spark that made the first film great while still not having that magical appeal.

Once again we find ourselves in hardened and corrupted town of Basin City where the inhabitants exist and resist against the sinful city, while others revel in its reprehensible environment.

Producers started working on a sequel seven years after the initial film was released. In that time Brittany Murphy and Michael Clarke Duncan passed. Though they portrayed minor characters, their characters, Shellie and Manute respectively, were vastly effectual and favorites in the film. Rodriguez elected to retire Shellie, smartly, but recast Manute with Dennis Haysbert, but he did not stop there. He also chose to recast Devon Aoki's Miho with the exceedingly inferior Jamie Chung and Michael Madsen's Bob with Jeremy Piven. Further, Clive Owen's Dwight McCarthy is seemingly recast and played by Josh Brolin. Mickey Rourke's Marv makes a surprise appearance considering he died in the previous film. Eye candy Jessica Alba dons the stirrups once again as Nancy but this time gets an unnecessary and boring principal role.

It's almost impossible to write a summary for the film without giving away key aspects of the plot. Note, the term 'spoiler' was not used deliberately as nothing would be spoiled. Despite having several fascinating and explicit story lines from the comics, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez decided to force five seemingly unconnected and irrelevant segments worth of content into a Sin City sequel that is really a pointless prequel-sequel hybrid. Within thirty minutes at least seven main characters and their associated stories, all in infancy, branch out with no time to become invested or even care about the outcome.

The revolutionary awe and savagery of Sin City is gone. The inventive techniques that made the first film extraordinary are exploited and bludgeoned to death. Rodriguez and Miller over-utilize popping colors against the stylized black and white motif so that the significance in these items and moments diminishes to nothingness.

The witty dialogue that succinctly dripped with a retro film noir edge falls flat on the tongue of the, arguably, main character portrayed by Josh Brolin. Brolin lacks the debonair and commanding force that Clive Owen has in the first film. Peppered with lazy and lame metaphors, the script sounds like the banal ramblings of a poorly followed twitter account of a desperate writer. Example: "An atom bomb goes off between my legs. A freight train barrels into my jaw." Then to keep up with the gruesome and shocking content of its predecessor, A Dame to Kill For randomly adds violence as an obvious afterthought.

It is incomprehensible that, after seven years, the producers would rush into filming besides a hefty paycheck with this paltry, tame and inconsequential movie. A Dame to Kill For is painfully contrived and completely pointless.

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Fmovies: I went into this film with very high expectations, being a dedicated lover of the graphic novels & the original film, I have waited a long time for this film to come out.

I will start with the positives, the film is as beautiful as the original & stunning in its visual appearance. Mickey Rourke is excellent as Marv yet again.

Sadly, that is about all the good I can say. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was very weak & his character almost pointless, beyond being time filler. The script writing was not as snappy as the first. The whole thing just didn't flow as well nor feel as polished as the first, a real let down, they could have made something stunning & just went for easy money

I saw this film last night and I was not disappointed. Being a fan of the first film I went in with high hopes for this film (as most people did after watching the first) and it tells some other Frank Miller stories well.

If you enjoyed the violence, great dialogue and overall aesthetic of the first one you'll love this film.

One of the only parts that really bothered me was the recasting of Dwight which threw me off slightly as I wasn't expecting it. It also gets slightly confusing at times because some stories are set in the present and some in the past which can be hard to keep up with, but if you are paying attention properly you get the grasp of it after a bit.

However overall I loved the film's over the top nature and comic book style and if you enjoyed the first one then you'll enjoy this one.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For fmovies. OK, maybe this movie isn't aimed at "mature" audiences, but for adults looking for a trashy good time at the movies then you won't get a movie any better than this. If you want to see unrelenting brutality & most of Eva Green you will get your money's worth & then some.

Green totally owns the "Dame" role that she was perfectly cast for. When her story ends the movie does drop off (fortunately her story is most of the movie).

The "Sin City look" is enhanced by 3D (I normally avoid 3D) & rates as one of the best uses of 3D I've ever seen. Fans (like me) of Miller's "A Dame To Kill For" comic book will be thrilled at it's obsessive loyalty to word & frame screen treatment. It looks fantastic! (Maybe, I mean to say that Green looks fantastic. It's both.) I don't get all the criticism of how this "look" has grown tiresome --not for me in 3D.

All the actors in big roles to small look like they are having a sinful amount of fun, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt is almost as strong as Green in a new role in one the new stories written for the movie. If you saw "Looper" (or "Inception") you already know that JGL can play a tough guy despite his physical size.

Make no mistake this movie is a feature length Roadrunner cartoon for adults --emphasis on "adults"--with all of the ridiculous action & over- the-top violence that only a cartoon can get away with because of the way it's rendered.(No kids, please: there is just enough gore that isn't so cartoonish to make it unfit for children.)

Like the first Sin City 9 years ago, this new Sin City is B-movie bliss. (I still don't like Jessica Alba as "Nancy".)

A Dame to Kill for is by no means a boring or bad film. It succeeds as a satisfying sequel to the far more novel and perhaps stronger Sin City... it is bloody, violent, beautifully made, with cool deep voices, nudity and clearly fitting into the film noir genre. Where it falls short is in the charactersationssliding a bit, the strength of two original stories, the change in actors and the gap between the first and second film. There is also a desperate need for more iconic moments which the Sin City comics and the film has plenty of, but they never really come in A Dame to Kill for.

The characters seems less edgy, less strong charactered and some despite being far more stereotypical carries less of a punch. Especially Marv and Dwight who are the central characters fall a bit short. With Dwight almost feeling detached from the story he is the centre character of. I never thought I would find myself ever thinking that Owen over Brolin. Rourke however seems to have lost some of his edge again, but still causes plenty of mayhem. The new original story lines is probably as good as the rest, but it feels like we never get a very satisfying end out the first one of it especially because it plays as probably the most straightforward story with less of the iconic art work or stunning scenes put in it, it relies on Gordon-Hevitt's abilities more than anything else. The second original story however fairs better mostly due to Alba's dancing and Rourke's brute. If one has not recently seen Sin City and goes to see this it can be a bit hard putting things into place in it's sequel... most people benefit from having seen Sin City recently in order to truly enjoy the film's anachronistic narrative.

It is an awesome film, I will not argue against that, and it does give people more of what they want from Sin City. And there is maybe couple of camels to swallow. But I think in time when seen in union with it's predecessor and sequel(s) it will come out stronger than it might appear now.

I saw the 3D version and surprisingly it actually works well for the film, although I am sure the film would be just as good in 2D alone. It is worth seeing in the cinema, it has the scale/action/importance and beauty to justify that. It will not be remembered for it's visuals as much as Sin City, but it will be recognised for how it fits into the Sin City style.

Let me begin by saying that the first Sin City is one of my favorite movies of all time. I thought it was an absolute blast to watch, and the filming style blew me away.

A Dame to Kill For is the same type of movie as the first, but it is not executed quite as well. It may just be be cause the style lost some of its original appeal, but I thought it didn't live up to its predecessor. With that said, I still thought A Dame to Kill For was a great time at the movies. Everything about it was solid. It continued the action from the first and did not fail to keep me at the edge of my seat. And, Marv was his normal, b.a. self.

A Dame to Kill for consists of two story lines that are prequels to those of the first Sin City and one that is a sequel. I felt that it delivered very well in its attempt to support what happened in the first movie. I would recommend re-watching the first one so that you're fresh for this. Sometimes you can forget the names if you haven't seen it in a while.

Overall, this movie was great. If I had not seen the first Sin City, I would have been blown away.

I give it a 8/10. A definite must-see.