Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

2 out of 5 Stars

The sequel to the innovative Sin City film from Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller follows three primary storylines: Nancy Callahan's (Jessica Alba) plot to get revenge for Hartigan,  Johnny's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) plot to beat Senator Roark in gambling, and Dwight's (Josh Brolin) love affair with the deceptive dame (Eva Green). Much like the original film, the style is similar, saturated in a stylistic film noir world with a graphic novel feel and specific colors highlighted against the black and white shading scheme.

Outside of that element and closing the story on a few of the characters from the first film (namely Nancy, Hartigan, and Senator Roark), much of what made the first film unique and enjoyable is missing in the sequel. The interwoven plot structure of the first film that brought characters together is separate sequences is completely missing and traded for a simple through line that feels like it's trying to hold onto what the first film captured but failing. The characters fall flat in the new structure despite solid acting from most of the cast. But despite any of the performances, the characters just aren't as engaging as they were in the first film. Even Marv, who was a character that shined in the first film, only feels mediocre in this Sin City re-hash.

We are taken to many of the familiar locations of the first film, such as Old Town, and many of the characters from before are brought back into the sequel. Really, Eva Lord (Eva Green) and Johnny are the only major knew characters. It's still a fun romp with the enjoyable entertainment style that the first film brought. Yet, this time around the style isn't quite as fun and the simpler color scheme that the first film used is heightened with far more color in the sequel, detracting from some of the enjoyment. Rodriguez and Miller this time around should have stuck with the simplicity that made the first film work so well instead of trading it for heightened color schemes and 3D gimmicks.