Today’s quick review: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. During a visit to Basin City, Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a suave gambler on a hot streak, runs afoul of the corrupt Senator Roark (Powers Boothe) in a game of poker. At the same bar, a stripper named Nancy (Jessica Alba) contemplates revenge against the Senator for his crimes against Hartigan (Bruce Willis), the cop who saved her life. Meanwhile, Dwight (Josh Brolin), a private investigator with violent impulses, recruits Marv (Mickey Rourke), a local tough, to help him save Ava (Eva Green), a manipulative woman from Dwight’s past.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is a stylized action noir adapted from the Sin City graphic novels by Frank Miller. A Dame to Kill For sheds light on the characters and stories of the original film through another trio of short stories set in the corrupt and violent Basin City. The relation to the original film is somewhat muddy, but Dwight’s story appears to be a prequel, Nancy’s is a sequel, and Johnny’s is a separate story altogether.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For has nearly as spectacular a cast as the original. Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, and Mickey Rourke return as Hartigan, Nancy, and Marv, respectively. Josh Brolin replaces Clive Owen as Dwight, while Joseph Gordon-Levitt joins the main cast as the gambler Johnny. Many of the supporting characters return as well, giving the film a sense of cohesion, while Ray Liotta, Christopher Lloyd, and Jeremy Piven appear in minor parts.
A Dame to Kill For retains the heavy stylization of the original, particularly its black-and-white color palette and gritty narration. But several subtle changes give the movie a very different feel, and fans of the original’s polished writing, bizarre world, and perfect tone will be somewhat disappointed. Instead, A Dame to Kill For offers faster pacing, more sex, and more violence, trading atmosphere for spectacle. The result is a solid, stylized action film that lacks the subtlety of the original.
The stories themselves are well-written and reasonably interesting, but not as compelling as the first movie’s. Johnny is a welcome addition to the cast, but his story is short and linear. Hartigan’s story from the original continues with Nancy in the lead, but the sequel feels unnecessary. Dwight’s story is the standout of the bunch, with a complex plot and several important connections to the status quo seen in Sin City. For his part, Marv bumps around between the stories without much purpose, there mostly for screentime rather than any reason of his own.
Watch Sin City: A Dame to Kill For if you enjoyed the first film and do not mind a slight dip in quality. Those who watched Sin City for its artistry will be disappointed by the lack of polish here; those who enjoyed its stylized voilence will have plenty to chew on. Skip A Dame to Kill For if you are sensitive to violence or you have yet to see the first.
6.5 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 7.0 for stylized action missing the polish of the original.