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:

 

Sin City

The ultimate graphic novel onscreen experience.

Depending on your age, if you were asked about the best comic book adaptation ever your answer would vary significantly. Also, your comic book/graphic novel knowledge would play a defining role in pointing the right answer. For instance, 70's kids would answer "Superman, the Movie by a long shot!" While late 80's would strongly state "Tim Burton's Batman all the way!" 2000's kids would say "there is nothing like the Avengers" and so on...

Truth be told: There is only one film that deserves the adjective "Unique" for its outstanding results, and no! it is not Christopher Nolan's Batman I'm talking 2005 here, I'm talking exploitation genius Robert Rodríguez, and most of all, I'm talking legendary comic book artist Frank Miller! Sin City is a movie made for hardcore comic book fans, not the frequent posers who pretend to be "geeky" or "nerdy" just because it's trendy(have you checked how many geeky/nerdy sluts have come out from out of nowhere stating they're hardcore fans?)

After his negative personal experience working in Hollywood on RoboCop 2 and Robocop 3, Frank Miller was reluctant to release the film rights to his comic books, fearing a similar result. Rodriguez, a long-time fan of the graphic novels, was eager to adapt Sin City for the screen. His plan was to make a fully faithful adaptation, follow the source material closely, and make a "translation, not an adaptation". In hopes of convincing Miller to give the project his blessing, Rodriguez shot a "proof of concept" adaptation of the Sin City story "The Customer is Always Right" (starring Josh Hartnett and Marley Shelton). Rodriguez flew Miller into Austin to be present at this test shooting, and Miller was very happy with the results. This footage was later used as the opening scene for the completed project, and (according to Rodriguez in the DVD extras) to recruit Bruce Willis and others to the project.

Marv, my kind of guy.

The Yellow Bastard.

The Film is Based on Translated from three of four of the first graphic novels by Frank Miller (who also co-directed and wrote the screenplay) Sin City tells three stories of crime, corruption, and redemption set in the fictional town 'Basin City'.  The first story The Hard Goodbye, details the quest of Marv (Mickey Rourke) who searches town for the man who murdered Goldie (Jamie King), the woman he believes to be his one true love. The second story, The Big Fat Kill, tells of Dwight (Clive Owen) who must cover up the death of a corrupt police officer (Benicio Del Toro) in order to avoid a war between the cops, and the girls of old town, led by Gail (Rosiaro Dawson) The final story, That Yellow Bastard, shows Hartigan, (Bruce Willis) a beat up retired cop framed for a crime he didn't commit, trying to save the life of a girl whose life he saved at a young age, who grew up to become a stripper, (Jessica Alba) while all the while being tracked by a mysterious stranger with a grotesque appearance. (Nick Stahl)

It's a churning vat of old fashioned pulp style stories, each one more dark and edgy then the last. And yet, Sin City itself is morbidly fascinating; if you don't mind delving through the haze of sleaze, violence and corruption you'll find a really compelling story underneath the hard exterior. Sin City exudes the essence of classic film noir, except combined with over-the-top violence, characters and dialogue to maintain that comic book feel. Giving co-director status to creator Frank Miller and allowing him to write the screenplay was perhaps the wisest move director Robert Rodriguez ever made, because Miller's gritty influence shines through, perfectly capturing the mood of his original creations.

Hartigan, the good cop.

Dwight and the babes.

And the visuals... extraordinary. The entire film is shot in black and white, except for certain items which appear in colour. (a red dress, red blood, although sometimes the blood is stark white, and not to mention Nick Stahl's character, Yellow Bastard, who is, indeed, yellow) Rodriguez is also smart enough to use a green screen backdrop, so as to recreate Miller's gritty, moody sets by computer animation instead of trying to create them first hand. And it works, wonderfully - the sets perfectly set the tone for the rest of the movie: dark, bold, over-the-top and quality work unlike any other. Add the characters' noirish costumes (almost every male character sports, as Marv puts it, a "damn fine coat") unique appearances, (it says a lot for the quality of the movie when a character like Yellow Bastard doesn't seem out of place) and movement (take note that if the movie was paused at any given point, the frame would look like a panel from a comic book) and Miller and Rodriguez perfectly nail the comic book feel.

It also helps that a wonderful cast has been assembled to bring life to the mayhem. Spot on performances abroad here, but the standouts in my opinion were Elijah Wood, who was truly chilling as Kevin, the silent, cannibalistic serial killer; Nick Stahl as Roarke Junior/Yellow Bastard, a truly creepy and disgusting character; Clive Owen, playing against type as Dwight; (who isn't exactly a sophisticated, British gentleman, but then again, no one in this film is) Mickey Rourke as Marv, managing to turn out a stunning performance, even with his face buried under several layers of latex; Benicio Del Toro almost unrecognizable as corrupt cop Jackie Boy and a welcome appearance from late Michael Clarke Duncan as Manute, an enforcer specializing in inflicting pain. The hard edged ladies also do a great job, with Jessica Alba, Rosiaro Dawson, Carla Gugino, Jamie King and the rest all giving great performances.

Nancy Callahan.

Goldie?

The film opened on April 1, 2005, being acclaimed by reviews. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 78% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 242 reviews with a "Certified Fresh" rating, with an average score of 7.4/10. The site's consensus states: "Visually groundbreaking and terrifically violent, Sin City brings the dark world of Frank Miller's graphic novel to vivid life." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 based on reviews from critics, the film has a score of 74 (citing "generally favorable reviews") based on 40 reviews.

Roger Ebert awarded the film four out of four stars, describing it as "a visualization of the pulp noir imagination, uncompromising and extreme. Yes, and brilliant." Online critical reaction was particularly strong: James Berardinelli placed the film on his list of the "Top Ten" films of 2005. Several critics including Ebert compared the film favorably to other comic book adaptations, particularly Batman Begins and Hulk. Chauncey Mabe of the Sun-Sentinel wrote: "Really, there will be no reason for anyone to make a comic-book film ever again. Miller and Rodriguez have pushed the form as far as it can possibly go."

Lovely Lucille.

Oh Lucille!

There were several reviews predominantly focused on the film's more graphic content, criticizing it for a lack of "humanity". William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer described it as a celebration of "helpless people being tortured ... I kept thinking of those clean-cut young American guards at Abu Ghraib. That is exactly the mentality Rodriguez is celebrating here. Sin City is their movie." Other critics focused on especially negative elements: "scenes depicting castration, murder, torture, decapitation, rape, and misogyny."

The New York Times critic Manohla Dargis claimed that the directors' "commitment to absolute unreality and the absence of the human factor" made it "hard to get pulled into the story on any level other than the visceral". Credit is given for Rodriguez's "scrupulous care and obvious love for its genre influences" but Dargis notes "it's a shame the movie is kind of a bore" where the private experience of reading a graphic novel does not translate, stating that "the problem is, this is his private experience, not ours".

In a more lighthearted piece focusing on the progression of films and the origins of Sin City, fellow Times critic A. O. Scott, identifying Who Framed Roger Rabbit as its chief cinematic predecessor, argued that "Something is missing – something human. Don't let the movies fool you: Roger Rabbit was guilty," with regard to the increasing use of digitization within films to replace the human elements. He applauds the fact Rodriguez "has rendered a gorgeous world of silvery shadows that updates the expressionist cinematography of postwar noir" but bemoans that several elements of "old film noirs has been digitally broomed away", resulting instead in a film that "offers sensation without feeling, death without grief, sin without guilt, and, ultimately, novelty without surprise".

"She says her name is Goldie"

Murdering bastard.

Overall, Sin City it's all in the style of such films as Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, so it may be wise to use those films as guidelines of what to expect in terms of content. It's true that Sin City is not for everyone: the violence is brutal and unflinching, most characters are disreputable, manipulative and sleazy, and the whole feel of the film is undesirable, and not too cheery. But if none of that deters you, Sin City should be known as a must see, for the superb visual stylistics if nothing else. But the style and feel of the comic books is perfectly captured and thrust into our faces. Frank Miller must be proud.

Here's the movie trailer for the coolest graphic novel/comic book adaptation translation ever!

and as a bonus video the first trailer for the sequel: Sin City, a Dame to Kill for.

Desperado

Don't mess with el Mariachi puñeta!

Desperado is a very interesting piece of film work. This was my first movie watching Spanish actor Antonio Banderas in a rated R movie, and I really wasn't sure what to expect - boy was I surprised. This movie is highly entertaining and packs a punch in multiple genres. For the most part, this is one big shoot 'em up movie. Although much of the action scenes are the same, they still somehow end up being exciting to watch no matter how many times you've seen it. This is not your regular western, where people have their little revolvers and twirl them with one finger, no. This is about a man getting revenge for the sake of his loved one using any weapon he can find.

As I said before, Antonio Banderas stars as El Mariachi who looks to find revenge on the man who hired a couple of thugs to kill his wife and permanently damage his playing hand. Co-starring with Banderas is actress Salma Hayek. Although back then she was not well known, this is the film that started her career. I think these two actors really do a good job. Not only do they work well together, but also they look good together.

Part time Musician and...

...Full time avenger.

Making things even more awesome are the action scenes. The way El Mariachi fires upon the bad guys, the way he leaps and rolls; is just really exciting to watch. The style of the film is done differently than the usual action movies. Out of all the people that are killed by El Mariachi, you would almost think that he's villain, but he's not. The bad guy's henchmen just keep getting in between the cross hairs.

Although much of this movie is shooting people, Banderas has many moments of comedy. And it's not like, "Haha! That was a good joke". It's more of, "These guys better watch out, because they don't know who they're messing' with". El Mariachi says it himself, he's just looking for a man. And when he says the man's name, everyone starts shooting at him! He's just looking for a certain guy, why does it matter to them- ...Oh well...that's their fault. Those guys got what was coming for them. They just didn't know that.

Finally for the music used in this movie was by Los Lobos. I think Lobos did a great job with the musical score. With the Hispanic tone in every part of the music, it really gets the blood flowing. Because the story is about El Mariachi, it has a lot of guitar. That is what gives the film its zest. 

El Mariachi is not alone.

All bad guys wear expensive suits.

Director Robert Rodriguez has recreated El Mariachi and made it into a high spirited "boom" "pow" movie that can make the viewer start jumping out of their seat. With fun performances, loud action and great music, this film is bound to get the attention it wants. 

This one is my favourite of the "El Mariachi" series because it tells the best story without being too over the top or too pretentious. The first movie is good despite the resources Rodriguez had to work with but, it still could have been more action packed and had less silliness in it. "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" was good too, still I think it went too over the top even by "El Mariachi" standards. "Desperado" is an excellent part of the "El Mariachi" series. Though, I've always wondered why being a mariachi is such a deadly occupation in this series of film. It is a great shoot 'em up, tells a great story, and is cheesy only to a point where it puts a smile on your face.  

Tough Mexican citizens.

Blazing couple.

Desperado's Trivia

Kinky Crew.

 

Director Robert Rodriguez said in his DVD commentary that the day they shot Salma Hayek's love scene with Antonio Banderas, the entire crew showed up to see it.

Buscemi's part.

Steve Buscemi's character's name is "Buscemi" because the part was written with him in mind.

Tarantino's part.

Though Quentin Tarantino wasn't initially cast in the movie, the character he plays was based on him. Steve Buscemi was originally cast in the role, but when Tarantino expressed an interest he was immediately given the part.

Banderas, 100% Mariachi.

Antonio Banderas performed all of his own guitar work, including "Cancion Del Mariachi" during the opening credits. 

 

El Mariachi rides...

The Corona Club.

The bar in the beginning of the film where Steve Buscemi and Cheech Marin talk is an actual bar in Acuna, Mexico called the Corona Club. The bar is a lot cleaner and bigger in reality, but it's like walking right into the movie. They also have quite a few pictures of the stars and crew of the movie on the walls.

Quick draw.

The scenes with Steve Buscemi and Cheech Marin had to be shot quickly because they could only afford Buscemi for seven days and Cheech for six.

Scary Fake Blood gun.

For most of the killings they used a gun that essentially fired fake blood at the characters instead of squibs. This unfortunately created too realistic of an effect resulting in them having to edit out much of the deaths for the censors.

The more you want...

This film cost approximately $7 million to make, 1000 times the amount of money Rodriguez spent to make El mariachi.

 

...So does the bad guy.

Mr. Bison as Bucho.

Raul Julia was cast as Bucho, but pulled out due to declining health.

Banderas, the director.

The bathroom scene before the 2nd bar shootout was directed by Antonio Banderas. Robert Rodriguez said he didn't like using 2nd unit crews and Banderas asked if he could direct the scene, so Rodriguez agreed.

Chingón's music did not make it to Desperado.

Robert Rodriguez had originally written a rock version of the song "Malagueña Salerosa" into the screenplay. It would later be performed by his band "Chingon" during the end credits of Kill Bill: Vol. 2

 

Formerly known as Navajas, now known as Machete!

Cheech Marin, the invisible.

During the shoot out in the bar Cheech Marin's character is rarely seen. This is because they could only shoot his scenes in the six days they had him, so they made an approximation of what the shot up bar would look like and shot his scenes with it, putting his character behind it for most of the shootout.

Stuntmen for charity.

Due to the film's relatively low budget, the same two stunt men were used throughout the movie.

 

J Lo for the win.

 

Jennifer Lopez tried out for the part of Carolina.

 

The Gunman.

 

The movie was originally entitled "El Pistolero" ("The Gunman") to be consistent with the first film (El mariachi (1992)) but was changed at the request of the studio. In Mexico it was released as "Pistolero" and "La Balada del Pistolero" 

 

El Mariachi knows how to make your girl cum.

Happiness comes from a warm facial.

Santa Cecilia.

Santa Cecilia (St. Cecilia) is the patron saint of music, which is an obvious reference to the Mariachi theme. Both Henry Purcell and George Frideric Handel wrote Odes to St. Cecilia's Day (22 November 1683, and 1739, respectively). Few hard facts are known about St. Cecilia who may not have existed at all, other than in legend.

 

Partnership beyond Desperado.

A week after finishing shooting this film, Robert Rodriguez and Antonio Banderas were back in the studio, working on Rodriguez's segment of Four Rooms (1995). 

 

Here's the movie trailer: