Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For
When it comes to sequels, one of the most important elements of them all can literally be timing, whether it be in the decision to make a sequel right away to capitalize on the previous filmâs popularity or to instead allow its impact to simmer for a few years before doing it all over again. In many cases, sequels were never even intended for a film, but nonetheless it would build such a fanbase that sometimes after years they were practically screaming for a follow up effort. And in other cases, a film that made a huge impact upon its first release just wound up waiting too long to do its official sequel by which time both the popularity and cult status had cooled off just a bit too much for hardly anybody to really care about except of course for the die hard fans which still isnât enough to make it worth much of anything in terms of box office receipts. Such was the case with Sin City, released in 2005 to almost unheard of acclaim as director Robert Rodriguez (audaciously using the original creator of the graphic novels Frank Miller as âco directorâ and even utilizing no less than Quentin Tarantino for one scene as a âspecial guest directorâ) created a brand new visual style for the time of showing us a pulpy, noir filled comic book come to life with the help of a game all star cast topped off by Mickey Rourke in a performance that vigorously jump started his comeback. Flush off the success (despite Rourkeâs lack of an Oscar Nomination) of the film, Rodriguez promised fans that much more was yet to come, a prospect that excited many except for the fact that he waited a whole 9 years to do so, during which time many got tired of waiting as many jumped off the bandwagon to get into the new Batman / Avengers / Justice League films so that when the new Sin City film was finally released in 2014, most people barely remembered the groundbreaking impact of the original and figured that it was probably just more of the same old thing (a qualified yes and no to that). Rodriguez had little trouble signing up several key players from the original in Rourke, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis and others while also recasting certain roles due to either an actorâs death or unavailability (Michael Clark Duncanâs passing resulted in his role being recast with the very good choice of Dennis Haysbert while Dwight Owenâs passable turn in Part 1 as lead character Dwight McCarthy was replaced due to his unavailability by the risky choice of Josh Brolin) and a vast array of newcomers (some in major parts and others just in brief cameos) that included Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ray Liotta, Christopher Meloni, Christopher Lloyd (as a dope shooting back alley doctor), Stacy Keach (playing a mobster underneath so much prosthetic makeup that he looks like something that just walked off the set of Dick Tracy), Lady Gaga (in what is actually a very sweet cameo) and Eva Green still enjoying her post Casino Royale / Vesper Lynd success as an evil female character who ultimately threatens to take over the whole movie with mixed results. However the best casting and story decision made here was not only to bring back Powers Boothe as the shady Senator (and father of The Yellow Bastard serial killer from the first film), but to promote the character all the way up to the level of being a full fledged lead villain and Boothe (in what turned out to be his last film) certainly relishes it for all its worth, licking his chops as he nonchalantly destroys lives even while knowing that others out there are aiming to end his. Even as he competes with Eva Greenâs seductress as to who would get the honors as the top dog villain here, in the end itâs obvious that the same deliciously sinister genius who gave us Curly Bill Brocious and many other great bad guys over the years is truly the man here after having seen his character sit on the sidelines for the majority of Part 1. Whereas the first movie had three clearcut stories each with their own lead actor (Rourke, Willis, Owen), here we get three stories with some interesting changeups. Rourkeâs unforgettable Marv is back here, albeit with Rourke himself somewhat going through the motions while playing a supporting / sidekick role in all three stories. Willis as Hartigan is more of an extended cameo here, his ghost being seen watching over Albaâs Nancy Callahan (here also being promoted to the star / lead heroine of her segment) as she continues to grieve over the death of her protector from the first film, drinking heavily and haphazardly plotting revenge against Bootheâs Senator Rourk while still dancing in the same nasty strip club (and being its number one attraction) as Willisâ guardian angel looks on remorsefully, even remarking that the only true hell is watching your (still living) loved ones suffering after youâre gone. The second story introduces a new lead character in Gordon-Levitt, a slick gambler with a penchant for always winning at slot machines and poker as well, a trait that doesnât exactly endear him when he sits down at a high stakes table dominated by (wait for it) Bootheâs fiendishly evil Senator Rourk, someone who doesnât necessarily care if he wins or loses because he still has so much power that if you beat him at the poker table, heâs still going to make you pay such a high price that itâs not even worth trying. Rodriguez cuts seamlessly between these two stories and appears to be on a roll until he gets bogged down by what he considers to be the main story (âA Dame To Kill Forâ) with Brolin unsteadily taking over from Owen as Dwight, a freelance tough guy and apparent private investigator (first seen setting up and photographing Liottaâs cheating husband) who suddenly gets hit up by an old girlfriend of his (Green) whom he already knows to be trouble as all it takes is a forced kiss from her and hearing her say that she loves him to get him to do her wicked bidding. The problem with Green though (despite her doing ample amounts of nudity) is that despite the fact that even though we get feverish amounts of dialogue describing her as both a âwitchâ or a âgoddessâ who has nearly unlimited powers over men whether they be Brolin, her husband (Marton Csokas) whom she compels Brolin to âsaveâ her from, an idiot cop (Meloni) whom she works into a vengeful rage against Brolin or Haysbertâs wrecking machine Manute, the fact is that Green simply does not possess the natural charisma to make the character believable at all (at least compared to someone like Alba who could have nailed this kind of role had she not been reprising her original character). Whatâs even worse is that after giving us tiny yet intriguing tastes of the Gordon-Levitt and Alba / Willis storylines, Rodriguez goes all in and gives full commitment to this âchapterâ instead, going on for nearly a full hour straight of this saga without interweaving any of the other story elements (except for Marv who plays a role of some sort in everything here) as we even make a return to the infamous Old Town, the area where the cops are afraid to venture into since it appears to be run and policed by a gang of death dealing whores led by Gail (Rosario Dawson also returning and not making much of an impression) and of course Deadly Little Miho, the cute but mute Asian killing machine who always seems to be really good at slicing up various henchmen but who then always seems to disappear when it comes time to face the boss villain, leaving them to the main characters to deal with. Despite being a fan favorite in the first movie, here Miho is played by Jamie Chung instead of the originalâs Devon Aoki who got pregnant right before filming. By the time we get back to the Gordon-Levitt and the Alba / Willis stories (with Boothe acting as lead villain for both segments), it almost feels as if the pacing has been slackened way too much for the film to ever fully recover since so much consecutive time was spent on the Eva Green story, but things still do wrap up nicely especially when the still super gorgeous Alba finally takes center stage and we see a story that actually plays out like a real legitimate sequel to the first Sin City, complete with the expected emotional impact. But alas, it turns out that Rodriguez and Miller DID wait too long to make this followup and despite the promises of even more to come, the depleted box office grosses proved that the fanbase was just not there anymore and only if they had hit it out of the park with a near flawless film (as Part 1 had been) could they have found a way to go on with what would have been an extremely interesting seriesâŚ
7/10