Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

If someone would ask you, what 90´s film do you consider to be a cult classic ? I would count up a lot of titles, including Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction of course, but there is a film that had a wild and crazy combination, that worked very well. I realise some people may not agree on this, but From Dusk Till Dawn is a classic cult film from the 90´s, by legendary director Robert Rodriguez. With the combination of George Clooney and Quentin Tarantino, fighting against vampires in a strip bar in Mexico, it had everything you would want in a sunday church matinee. Sure, everything was over the top, blood everywhere, body parts exploding, naked girls, big weapons, and a great Texas soundtrack. I would still say that this combination made From Dusk Til Dawn such a blast, and i can watch this film still today and love it, almost 20 years ago. Robert Rodriguez is a director known for combining action and horror in many different elements, mostly action since he started with the early film El Mariachi. It was a fun debut feature film, with a low budget, that had a charming way of showing mexican violence. But it was the remake, Desperado in 1995, that gave Rodriguez recognition as a director. Antonio Banderas as the mariachi, a murder machine, is also a cult film and a must have in your blu ray collect. Over the years Robert Rodriguez have continued to direct a lot of action films, and he did find a different project with Sin City, a film based on Frank Miller´s graphic novel series. This was a collaboration with Frank Miller, since they both helped directing the feature film. The results were astounding, a really cool adaptation of the graphic novel series, with an amazing cast, Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Elijah Wood, Jessica Alba, Powers Booth, Rutger Hauer, and many more. It was almost like watching a comic book coming to life with very powerful performances. So now 10 years later we have a sequel, after lots of speculations when it was coming out. Both directors Robert Rodriquez and Frank Miller are back as directors. With some of the original cast members from the first film, we have new actors on board like Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, Stacy Keach, Jeremy Piven, Ray Liotta and many more. Since i loved the first film, is this sequel just what we were hoping for, or should you avoid this one at all cost ?

Marv ( Mickey Rourke ) wakes up on a highway, finding himself surrounded by several dead young men and a crashed police car. He have no memory of what happened or how he got here. Since it is Saturday, he begin to retrace that he was at the Kadie's Saloon, watching Nancy Callahan ( Jessica Alba ) doing her dance number. As he walks outside he encounters four rich frat boys, burning a homeless man. The leader of the frat boys shoot Marv, calling him " Bernini Boy ", but he is only injured. Marv begin to hunt these frat boys down, stealing a police car and manage to locate them in the neighborhood The Projects. Marv grab the leader and ask him why he called him " Bernini Boy ", and the boy answers thats the name of his coat. Marv slit the boys throat. Johnny ( Joseph Gordon-Levitt ) arrives in Sin City, a cocky gambler who head towards Kadie's Saloon. Johnny talks to the waitress Marcie ( Julie Garner ), asking her to be his luck for this evening, when he decide to play poker inside the private area of powerful Senator Roark ( Powers Boothe ). Senator Roark agree that Johnny can play at the table. When Johnny ends up winning, Senator Roark is shocked and furious he lost. One of the other players, the corrupt police lieutenant Liebowitz ( Jude Ciccolella ) warns Johnny that he should leave town. Instead, Johnny take Marcie out for some fun in town. As he walk Marcie home, 2 guys attack John, but he beat them both down. He tell Marcie to wait for him at a hotel. A limousine drives up towards Johnny, Senator Roark wants to have a talk with him. He orders his guards to break 2 of his fingers, and toss him out off the car. Senator Roark shoot Johnny in the leg, and says he recognize him as his illegitimate son. He leaves Johnny on the streets, to suffer. Johnny will get his revenge. Dwight McCarthy ( Josh Brolin ) is trying to put the past behind him, working as an private detective. He saves the life of a young hooker, who is almost murdered by business man Joey ( Ray Liotta ). Suddenly Dwight get a phone call from his former lover Ava Lord ( Eva Green ). She wants to see him again and talk, even if she left him for 4 years. They meet up at Kadie's saloon. She begs Dwight to forgive her for leaving him, before her private chauffeur, Manute ( Dennis Haysbert ) arrives to pick her up. Dwight can´t get her out of his mind, so decide to sneak into Damian Lord's estate, but he is discovered and beaten up by guards. Back in his home, Ava awaits underessed. Dwight try and throw her out but end up making love to her. She tell him that Damian Lord ( Marton Csokas ) and Manute torture her physically and mentally. Manute arrives at Dwights home, beats him and and toss him out a window. Dwight believe Ava is in danger, so get Marv to help him go into the Damian Lord´s estate. Dwight confront Damian and beat him to death, as Ava appear and shoot Dwight several times. Marv realise Dwight is in serious condition and escape with Dwight. As detectives Mort ( Christopher Meloni ) and Bob ( Jeremy Piven ) arrive to the crime scene, Dwight is seen as the primal suspect. Ava try and make it sound like Dwight is responsible for everything, while she is innocent. When Dwight is back on his feet, he will get his revenge on Ava. Johnny visits the unlicensed doctor Kroenig ( Christopher Lloyd ), who is addicted to heroin. He makes a trade, for Johnnys last money and his shoes. Remembering he left Marcie to wait at the hotel, as he arrives he finds Senator Roark have killed her, but he let him go. Johnny have to play against Roark again at the poker table, so he manage to gather a dollar from waitress Bertha ( Lady Gaga ). With this dollar he manage to win some more money on slots machines to play at the poker table. Roark let him play once more time. After a hard battle of personal issues between father and son, Roark shoot Johnny in the head, telling his guards to dump the body. Stripper Nancy want to kill Roark, because he is the reason of John Hartigan's ( Bruce Willis ) selfless suicide. Nancy ask Marv to help her kill Roark, she will not stop until he is wasted.

Sequels are hard to do, especially if it is a sequel to a film in the same calibre as Sin City. I did not really know what to think Before i started watching Sin City: A Dame To Kill For. I just hoped that it would deliver almost on the same level as the first film. So is this a worthy sequel ? Yes, and no. You see, i like this sequel, but to say it is as good as the first Sin City is not possible. I realise that 10 years have gone, and that´s a long time to make a sequel on. But i feel that directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller still manage to capture the feeling of Sin City. There are many nice looking scenes here, and the violence is always brutal, just the way it should be. I would have wanted a stronger plot here, since the first film managed to both look cool, and still have a solid storyline. Sin City: A Dame To Kill For feels more simple, and maybe a bit too predictable in some scenes. Still i am not disappointed with everything in the final results. The acting from Powers Boothe is really good in this old noir styled thriller. I wish we could see him in other films more often, he have such a great screen presence. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does a great performance as the tough gambler, who runs out of luck. I enjoy seeing Ray Liotta here, he may not have much screen time, but he knows how to develope his characters. Josh Brolin is without a doubt one of my favourite characters in here, as the rough, depressed Dwight McCarthy. If you enjoyed the style and the comic book feeling of the first film, you might enjoy this sequel also. The dark depressing feeling is still here, and you get a sense that nobody is really happy about anything. This makes the true feeling of Sin City still stay. There is no hope, there is no real future, that´s why i like these Sin City films, everything is not wonderful in life. Sin City: A Dame To Kill For have some problems, but i found myself having a good time watching this crazy world of insane people. I read recently that this film is one of the biggest box office bombs of this summer, maybe people got tired waiting for so long and did not care of the release. I still have a feeling that you might want to see this sequel for what it is, a stylish noir thriller. The world of Sin City is a place i would not want to live in, but visiting is always fun. The violence, the dark city and the women, it all makes sense why you love this town.

Rating: DDD