Robert Rodriguez teams with Frank Miller to direct this follow-up to Sin City from a script by Miller and William Monahan based on preexisting stories along with new ones written for the big screen. Josh Brolin stars in the adaptation of the comic miniseries (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), which tells the backstory of Clive Owen's Dwight character as he is wrapped up in the thralls of femme fatale, Ava Eva Green. Also new to the series is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Johnny, a mysterious gambler set on taking down his sworn enemy in a high-stakes game of life and death. Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson, Jessica Alba, and Jaime King return for the Dimension Films release, with Jamie Chung and Dennis Haysbert stepping into roles left by Devon Aoki and the late Michael Clarke Duncan. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
Director: Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Josh Brolin, Mickey Rourke, Joseph Gordon-Levitt,
Eva Green, Jessica Alba.
Release Date: Aug 22, 2014
Runtime: 102 min
Genres: Crime Thriller, Post-Noir (Modern Noir), Crime
Review:
The follow up to Sin
City from Frank Miller and Robert
Rodriguez goes well with its predecessor even if it’s lost a bit of its bite
this go around. The style, violence and
attitude carry over keeping the film visually interesting but kind of a mixed
bag in terms of a story. The good part
of the film involves anything that contains Mickey Rourke who slips back into
Marv’s skin with incredible ease and the always impressive Eva Green. Green has a second Frank Miller sequel she’s
single handedly props up. Eva is always
the most interesting person on screen as chews up scenery as the man eating
black widow. It’s an over the top
performance but hints of subtly showcasing Green’s talent and a fair amount of
self awareness. She knows exactly what
kind of film this is and what the directors are aiming for, as a result she knocks
it out of the park. On the opposite end
of the spectrum is Jessica Alba who misses the mark badly. Even worse, she seems totally unaware about
how badly she’s doing. Rourke is great
but his role is greatly reduced here since he’s more of a supporting player for
Josh Brolin who’s surprisingly unmemorable and bland. Dennis Haysbert fills in capably for the late
Michael Clarke Duncan while Jamie Chung is fairly distracting filling in for
Devon Aoki for some reason, it might be obnoxious amount of make up they piled
on her. The biggest disappointment is
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and it has nothing to do with his performance which is
fine. The problem is that his entire
segment and character is utterly pointless.
It makes the entire film feel longer than it actually is, making it a
bit of a slog even for fans of the series.
C+
