Sin City - Una donna per cui uccidere

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is not a bad idea on paper. Frank Miller's Sin City universe is a rich and interesting setting, and as the first Sin City film proved, it translates to the silver screen beautifully. Unfortunately they decided to stick all the best stories into the first film, thus guaranteeing its success, but leaving the possible sequel without much material to use. Not that the stories used here are bad, they're just not as great as the ones used in the first one. Tellingly Miller was actually called back to write two new stories exclusively for the film. It shows.

However, there is one exception. The story named A Dame to Kill For. Considered to be one of the better stories in the original comic books, it's a good thing they still had one such story to wrap their movie around. And it is awesome. Just as good as the stories in the original film with same great quality acting, hardcore action and brutal visuals. No complaints.

The second adaptation story, Just Another Saturday Night, is really nothing more than an Ode to Marv (Mickey Rourke), and that's okay in my books. It doesn't have much of a plot, and the supporting characters are nonexistent, but it's a good opening piece.

The Long Bad Night, the first of the new stories, works because of its actors. Both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Powers Boothe have amazing screen presence and as they're pitted against one another throughout the night the stakes keep getting higher and higher, with satisfying results. A fine story and I could see this as an original Sin City story.

Nancy's Last Dance, our last story, is unfortunately the weakest story by far. They clearly wanted to give Jessica Alba something more to chew with her character, but it just doesn't have that edge. You don't buy it. Still not awful, merely average.

Aside from the material, the biggest problem is the common sequel problem where they want to do the same that worked so well in the original, but with more oomph. Here it means more colour spliced into the black-n-white, and it's very distracting. The original used colour carefully, for emphasis, for popping up important details. Here it seems that every single frame has a splotch of colour in it, usually for no reason, they just wanted colour in their frames. And thus the distinct visual style of Sin City is shattered.

All in all Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is not a bad film by any means. It's disappointing, certainly, but only because I love the first film so much, and wanted more of that greatness, no matter how impossible it is to achieve. Still, a great movie to check out if you're a fan, but don't expect miracles.

Nine years after visually reinventing and presenting a new form of filming, directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller are reunited to adapt the graphic novel 'A Dame to Kill For' and also bringing elements of 'Just Another Saturday Night', a tale taken from Booze, Broads, & Bullets, sixth volume in the comic book series. Two stories are unpublished: 'The Long Bad Night' and 'Nancy's Last Dance'. Most of the cast returned to this sequence. Josh Brolin takes on the role of Dwight in Sin City 2, originally played by Clive Owen and Ava Lord, the title's Dame to Kill For - a role originally thought for Angelina Jolie - was played by Eva Green.

After the death of John Hartigan (Bruce Willis), Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) thinks only of revenge. She spends her nights dancing in the same bar, but now in the company of a bottle of drink, while taking courage to face the powerful Senator Roark (Powers Boothe). At the same time, Dwight (Josh Brolin) tries to help the enigmatic Ava (Eva Green) only to find himself betrayed once again by this fatal lady. Virtually destroyed, he will seek the help of Gail (Rosario Dawson) and his gang to face the beloved, while Nancy will have the support of Marv (Mickey Rourke).

Just as it was in the first film, this new journey through Sin City maintains the structure adopted in the comics and is composed of small stories that are told in parallel and without worrying about chronology - that is why Marv (Mickey Rourke) is there. return. The script seeks to divide the story again into three main plots, trying to maintain continuity with the events of the previous film. The big problem with this sequence is that the directors create an evident problem of rhythm, putting the climax practically in the middle of the work. The main narrative arc, which gives the film its name, is resolved quickly, when it could have been fragmented and interspersed with the other stories. The end result sounds like a great collection that does not necessarily follow a line of reasoning.

The short story that gives title to the film, 'The Dame to Kill For' is one of them and shows Dwight McCarthy who tries to forget his violent past, working as a private detective and leading a sober life. After saving the life of con artist Sally (Juno Temple) from being killed by businessman Joey (Ray Liotta), he receives a call from ex-lover Ava Lord, who had abandoned him four years earlier to be with a wealthy tycoon, Damian Lord (Marton Csokas). Ava Lord is a woman who, when she touches a man's heart, becomes her greatest desire. A predator that usually destroys lives, sometimes for power, sometimes for profit and sometimes for sport. Ava Lord knows this and uses her sex appeal to get everything she wants from men.

The directors and the beautiful Eva Green manage to impress the scenes with sensuality, a factor amplified by the plans in which we see her portrayed as a goddess surrounded by a whole mystical atmosphere. But there will certainly be a lot of people in the cinema who will see just one more macho movie there, wanting to boycott the work, after all, nowadays if any material produced does not fit the politically correct, that is, a censorship endorsed by the majority of the artistic class worldwide, it is doomed to fail, at least by critics. This segment is, without a doubt, the most involving plot of the work and manages to keep us immersed and curious waiting for its conclusion. It is interesting the mystery that was built at the beginning, in which we did not know whether Ava was telling the truth or not. Ava's nature is built slowly by the work and is revealed to be harmful with the passing of minutes. The controlled use of color is present in the eyes and lips of the seductress. Afterwards, the viewer is anxious for Dwight's revenge with the help of Gail (Rosario Dawson) and the Old Town prostitutes. We see a plethora of knives piercing brains, swords severing heads and a lot of digital blood in the best 'Sin City' style.

The segment 'The Long Bad Night' is one of the unpublished stories written by Miller especially for the film and that brings Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a mysterious young man who decides to show his poker talent at a table full of influential and dangerous people . In this plot we learn that Johnny has a personal difference with Senator Roark (Powers Boothe). This plot proves to be very interesting, but its outcome leaves something to be desired, making us wonder why Miller simply does not use the original material, instead of creating this new arc that starts well, but fails for repetition in its closure.

'Nancy's Last Dance' shows Nancy Callahan suffering from deep depression over the death of John Hartigan, four years earlier. She is obsessed with getting revenge on Senator Roark, until with Marv's help, she invades the senator's house to kill him and to realize her revenge. Nancy's bow is interesting and is what closes the film, while still being interesting, even if predictable. Chosen to defend a plot of bitterness and revenge, all Jessica Alba can do is to force a face of suffering while babbling her dialogues. Still, we have excellent scenes in the mansion invasion and even in the final confrontation with Senator Roark.

Time was one of the great enemies of The Dame to Kill For. The sequel happened too late to accompany the commotion generated by the first film, and too soon we tried to use nostalgia to its advantage. In addition, Rank Miller's script is simply unable to fill all the stories with enough content. They are fast, empty and pale before the central plot. 'Sin City, A Dame to Kill For brings us everything we love about the first one as fun dialogues, full of catch phrases, neo-noir mixed with graphic violence. Everything follows the same pattern. It is more of the same, with the difference that in this case the narrative lacks rhythm, as previously said, and the three stories are connected in some way, but they seem to be stories played at random many times. There are also no memorable and shocking scenes as in the first, perhaps due to the public being more accustomed to this type of violence in other productions in recent years.

Obviously the technical part is once again impeccable, as well as the direction, but it no longer brings innovations. It is certainly a story that will please fans of comics, since again it is an almost literal transposition of the dialogues of comics to the cinema and fulfills its role of amusement. However, for the vast majority of the audience, those behind a consistent plot, characters with whom it is possible to root and get involved, the conclusion is somewhat frustrating. Either way, it's always great to walk the streets of Sin City and not know what to expect around every corner.

OK, maybe this movie isn't aimed at "mature" audiences, but for adults looking for a trashy good time at the movies then you won't get a movie any better than this. If you want to see unrelenting brutality & most of Eva Green you will get your money's worth & then some.

Green totally owns the "Dame" role that she was perfectly cast for. When her story ends the movie does drop off (fortunately her story is most of the movie).

The "Sin City look" is enhanced by 3D (I normally avoid 3D) & rates as one of the best uses of 3D I've ever seen. Fans (like me) of Miller's "A Dame To Kill For" comic book will be thrilled at it's obsessive loyalty to word & frame screen treatment. It looks fantastic! (Maybe, I mean to say that Green looks fantastic. It's both.) I don't get all the criticism of how this "look" has grown tiresome --not for me in 3D.

All the actors in big roles to small look like they are having a sinful amount of fun, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt is almost as strong as Green in a new role in one the new stories written for the movie. If you saw "Looper" (or "Inception") you already know that JGL can play a tough guy despite his physical size.

Make no mistake this movie is a feature length Roadrunner cartoon for adults --emphasis on "adults"--with all of the ridiculous action & over- the-top violence that only a cartoon can get away with because of the way it's rendered.(No kids, please: there is just enough gore that isn't so cartoonish to make it unfit for children.)

Like the first Sin City 9 years ago, this new Sin City is B-movie bliss. (I still don't like Jessica Alba as "Nancy".)

Sin City was one of my favorite movies of the 2000s. A fun, creative film noir cartoon with unique visuals and a style all its own. The first problem you run into with this sequel is that it offers nothing new. It's a stylistic retread of the first movie, only less impressive. The visuals copy the first movie but somehow seem cheaper. The makeup effects aren't as good either, with Marv's jaw easily twice the size of the last movie. The action is weaker, with no memorable sequences and a final showdown that is derivative of the first movie. The other big problem is that the writing is very poor this time and the stories don't flow well together. The Dwight story is lame. The Johnny story is pointless. The Nancy story is impossible to take seriously, especially the ghost parts. Sadly, this movie is boring, listless, and disjointed. It's a movie that didn't need to be made. Still, it's always nice to see Eva Green naked. That's something that never gets old.

Let me begin by saying that the first Sin City is one of my favorite movies of all time. I thought it was an absolute blast to watch, and the filming style blew me away.

A Dame to Kill For is the same type of movie as the first, but it is not executed quite as well. It may just be be cause the style lost some of its original appeal, but I thought it didn't live up to its predecessor. With that said, I still thought A Dame to Kill For was a great time at the movies. Everything about it was solid. It continued the action from the first and did not fail to keep me at the edge of my seat. And, Marv was his normal, b.a. self.

A Dame to Kill for consists of two story lines that are prequels to those of the first Sin City and one that is a sequel. I felt that it delivered very well in its attempt to support what happened in the first movie. I would recommend re-watching the first one so that you're fresh for this. Sometimes you can forget the names if you haven't seen it in a while.

Overall, this movie was great. If I had not seen the first Sin City, I would have been blown away.

I give it a 8/10. A definite must-see.