When Frank Miller’s “Sin City” came out in 2005, it was generally well received. The film, co-directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez, was groundbreaking, and introduced a mainstream audience to its gritty film noir style.
Sadly, “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For,” falls a long ways short of its predecessor.
The film uses the same black and white coloring process with pops of color. Nearly 10 years later, the novelty has worn off.
The film is broken into somewhat interwoven narratives, each one more violent then the last. The basic themes in all of them — revenge and over-the-top violence.
While the violence is part of the series’ schtick, the story relies too heavily on its shock factor from the very beginning. Combined with the decision to release the film in 3D, leads to a lot of ducking from onslaughts of bullets, blood, and other debris.
Although, the violence would be more forgivable if there was some sort of human connection in the film. Each point of view character lacks even a touch of humanity, although perhaps that’s the point. It’s very hard to connect with one dimensional characters without any redeeming qualities. The men are all criminals or converted-criminals, and the women are all manipulative and power-hungry, or victims.
The most disappointing part of the film is the incredible cast which includes Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, Lady Gaga, and Jeremy Piven (to name a few). This film proves that star power does not equal a good, or even a tolerable movie.
Unless you’re part sadist and masochist (an unfortunate combination), I would suggest skipping this disappointing end to a strong season (overall) of summer blockbusters.
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…just for fun:
