Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

a nipple to censor for.

It's been 9 years since the original Sin City hit the theaters for the first time. Now,  how much the world has change since then? not much, and to be honest who cares? we're talking movies here, not about cheap internet philosophy. Frank Miller & Robert Rodriguez return to their directing partnership to deliver Sin City: A Dame To Kill For AKA Sin City 2. Based upon the graphic novel of the same name, the film add a couple of new stories in order to provide us with a "whole" for a setting inside Basin City. Old characters return and naturally merge with the new ones.

In 2005, when the original film was released,  the Comic Book/Graphic Novel industry for the first time ever, had gotten what it truly deserved: a frame to frame accurate translation from the original graphic novel pages to the big screen. True connoisseurs and hardcore fans were pleased to see an actual comic book movie could be done without the "adaptation" and "based upon" shit they'd (and have) been taking for too long. The black & withe imagery, plus the intelligent use of a few colors gave Sin City a groundbreaking "Unique" tag amongst the films of its genre. A couple of years later, someone tried to repeat the recipe by releasing a mediocre adaptation of one of the oldest comic book characters: The Spirit. Did it work? nope, it didn't, because as scholars put it, "You can't polish a turd". 

You like my trunk tough guy?

Hands up!

Now, do we need a sequel for the best comic book movie of all times? Of course we do! Sin City's universe is so vast and rich, that bringing more stories to the big screen would completely please our fan cravings.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For returns you to the violent world of Basin City (Sin City for the unaware) and takes you deeper into the hellish underbelly of it.

This time, Marv (Mickey Rourke) wakes up on a highway in "Just Another Saturday Night", Johnny the Gambler (Joseph Gordon Levitt) puts together a dark mission in "The Long Bad Night", "A Dame to Kill For" brings Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin) back and Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) looks for revenge in "Nancy's Last Dance".

It's based on Frank Miller's graphic novel, "A Dame to Kill For", but it features two brand new stories written exclusively for the movie. One of them fits well with the story, "Nancy's Last Dance", but the other is just a story thrown in just to make the picture continue on, "The Long Bad Night", and it doesn't really say much about it other than it becomes a simple revenge tale.

Evil green eyes.

Dwight is back with his original face.

Robert Rodriguez brings you back to the craft and style that Sin City had, and this time, they take it all the way. There are some sparkling and beautiful shots in the film that give it the Sin City look and you feel like you're watching something visually stunning.

It serves as a prequel to some of the characters and a sequel as well. We see Dwight before "The Big Fat Kill" and learn who he was and how he was involved with Ava Lord (Eva Green). We see Nancy, still dancing at the bar, set after "That Yellow Bastard", and we see another side of her battling her own demons. Marv ends up being the person who smashes down doors, rips people apart and becomes the person everyone goes to for help. It doesn't really explain how he is back for the movie so you're wondering if his character is before or, somehow, after Sin City.

New cast members join the motley crue, this time, including Josh Brolin (replacing Clive Owen), Jeremy Piven, Eva Green, Ray Liotta, Juno Temple, Christopher Lloyd and Christopher Meloni. Each bring their own style and are fantastic to see but the biggest star of the movie is Marv. We see more of him this time and he is just as destructive as he was before. He is a force to be reckon with and Mickey's best role. Eva Green is a seductress and is the "Fleshy Perversion" of the film. Jessica Alba returns with a few surprises and she takes her character to a whole new level.

We're back with a vengeance!

Oh Hartigan why, why!

If you want violent gory action, you will get it. Sin City was wildly violent and brutal and this one is as well. There is a sequence where five heads come off at once and we see killing after killing. There is plenty of death and slaughter, with blood splattering on the screen, and you won't be disappointed.

Once again shot in black & white, aside from red blood, they add a little more colour this time, including Ava's blue dress and Juno Temple's orange hair and it works well with the silhouettes of black and white. There is still blood spurting all over faces and in some cases, the movie involves a lot of glass.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is on par with the original and a little bit better in terms of performance (For Some). As far as story goes, it's fun, interesting and entertaining to watch but Sin City had a better story where this one is more visual and Sin City was just graphic and edgy.  

Doctor Emmet Brown?

Senator Roark returns.

Now, before we finish with the usual "overall paragraph" and official trailer let's check some interesting Trivia about the movie:

Dwight has a new face, or has he got an old face? please, explain, I'm an idiot!

Dwight McCarthy, played by Clive Owen in the original Sin City (2005), is now played by Josh Brolin before the plastic surgery to change his face that Shellie (Brittany Murphy) mentions in the first movie. 

 

Thank God Johny Depp didn't make it!

 

The lead role was originally offered to Johnny Depp but he declined due to scheduling conflicts. Joseph Gordon-Levitt later replaced him and chose to star in the movie despite offers to star in other movies such as Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Godzilla (2014). Back in 2006 when Rodriguez first starting putting together ideas for a SIN CITY sequel, he considered Depp for the part of Wallace - the lead character of "HELL AND BACK" which he was hoping to adapt as one of the film's three segments. The idea to adapt HELL AND BACK was scrapped though & Rodriguez chose to adapt "JUST ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT", "A DAME TO KILL FOR" & the never published "THE LONG, BAD NIGHT" instead. 

 

Recasting.

 

During the seven year gap in between the first film's release and the beginning of principal photography on the second film, Brittany Murphy and Michael Clarke Duncan passed away, forcing Robert Rodriguez to recast their respective roles of Shellie and Manute (Dennis Haysbert). Due to Devon Aoki's pregnancy at the start of production, the character of Miho was also recast, with Jamie Chung replacing Aoki. Jeremy Piven also ended up replacing Michael Madsen as Bob.

 

In case you didn't read the graphic novels.

 

Three of the film's four segments - "JUST ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT", "A DAME TO KILL FOR" and "THE LONG, BAD NIGHT" - are prequels to the first film.

 

Eva Green loves the Frank Miller universe.

 

The 2nd film adapted from a Frank Miller graphic novel to star Eva Green. Previously, Eva Green starred as Artemisia in "300: Rise of an Empire", which was adapted from Frank Miller's graphic novel "Xerxes".

 

Ava Lord wannabes.

 

Salma Hayek, Rose McGowan, Angelina Jolie, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Helena Bonham Carter, Scarlett Johansson, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence were all considered to play the role of Ava Lord before Eva Green was cast. 

 

Rolling on the Benjamins!

 

The film's budget was $60 million, making this the most expensive movie Robert Rodriguez has ever directed. 

 

Show me what you got cowgirl!

My eyes are up here dude!

Yeah, can't wait for the Bukkake challenge.

Overall, quite an entertaining piece of adult entertainment, exploiting everything Sin City has to offer to its limits. Ava Green, spends most of her on screen time either nude or with very few clothes on, so I presume she will become a Hollywood Bombshell very soon (if she hadn't become one already) The Returning characters bring a sense of unity between the sequel & the original film while the new characters add freshness to a universe that seems to be all about black and white nights and deadly treats around the bend. Robert Rodriguez is probably one of the greatest most daring film makers of our time and under  Frank Miller's supervision, Sin City is brought back to life one more time. There is even a funny cameo where we can spot Miller & Rodriguez acting on TV.

 

Here's the red band movie trailer:

 

 

Bonus video: Ava Green & Jessica Alba talk about the movie: