Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (R) Review

"Not a Film to Kill For"

Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn) and Frank Miller (Sin City) hit the bricks once again in a return to the gritty monotone ultraviolent world of sin and sex.  Unfortunately no one seems really up for another round.

So what can we blame this misfire on?  Almost ten years have passed since the original's translation onto the screen, and it must be admitted that most of the choicest comic material was put into that version.  A Dame To Kill For is sadly not anywhere near the best Sin City story, and neither are the ones Frank wrote anew for the screenplay.  The untapped potential is a bloody strike against.  The Hollywood type "prequel"/"sequel" is confusing timeline-wise (not to mention full of plot holes if you try to line it up with the previous incarnation).  The ghost of Hartigan (Bruce Willis, in a boring cameo) is present just because it increases star power and a sequel demands a return of the first's stars (supposedly).  Marv, as played by Mickey Rourke, was the enigmatic star of the first movie, and so gets shoehorned into every place possible frame here which hurts the overall story.  There is no equivalent of  the excellent Yellow Bastard to give us a breather from his bizarre man-tics.  He's always popping up to ask "how you doin babe," or "hey kid" to the other new or recurring characters as if to say yes, I approve of this addition.  But does the audience?  These new kids (Eva Green baring all, Josh Brolin showing off his orbital sockets, Joseph Gordon Levitt as a cocky gambler) do well but unfortunately it's the ones behind the production that just don't seem to have the spark.  Miller's inks and Rodriguez's camera (with some help from Tarantino) brought the manic fury and razor-sharp Noir of the original to the screen almost a decade ago, and just don't seem to have the drive to fully return.  There's a lot of machismo posturing but not much conviction.  The visuals aren't as unique, the brand isn't as obscure, the story isn't as diverse or convincing, and with some of the best stories left behind for iffy new material or perhaps to fuel a future sequel that probably won't ever happen, it's a damn sin (even with it's harder "R" rating).

3 Who Shrunk Marv's Nose out of 10 (BAD)