SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR
By: John ’Doc’ Strange
Directed by: Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller
Cast: Josh Brolin, Jessica Alba, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson
MPAA Rating: R
Selig Rating: FULL PRICE
Runtime: 102 Min.
Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller bring us back to Sin City after nine years with its colorful inhabitants living their lives by codes few of us could follow. The film opens to Marv (Mickey Rourke) crawling from the wreckage of two cars, one a police cruiser. He doesn’t know why he is there or what brought him to this moment.
Marv returns to Old Town, to where he is comfortable. He spends most of his time at Kadie’s Club Pecos where he can watch over the club’s prime talent, Nancy (Jessica Alba). Nancy is still pining for Hartigan (Bruce Willis) who saved her from Senator Rourke’s deranged son (in the first film).
Senator Rourke (Powers Boothe) is as crazy as his son. When one of his illegitimate sons challenges him at his regular poker game, he finds it humorous until the young man, Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) actually succeeds in beating him! The Senator damages Johnny and sends him away. If only Johnny could stay away.
Meanwhile, Dwight (Josh Brolin) is being drawn back into Ava’s web. Like a spider, Ava (Eva Green) draws men in and uses them to give her what she wants before she discards them. Her protector, Manute (Dennis Haysbert), is a huge man who literally worships Ava. In her orbit, Dwight is used and abused. She uses sex to cloud his mind to get him to do her bidding.
Like the original film, Sin City, there are multiple subplots running simultaneously. The one constant to all of the stories is the violence that is life in Old Town. The area’s inhabitants do not suffer fools lightly. Rather than exacting a light punishment, the sentence for trespass or almost anything else is most often death. That death can come in the form of an arrow, a bullet, or the razor sharp edge of a katana slicing your head from your body.
Frank Miller’s graphic novels, brought to life by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, are violent bloody caricatures of a life we find ourselves drawn to but glad we don’t live. The highly stylized look of the films is done using green screen technology which gives us a living breathing graphic novel look to this live action film.
My only caveat to you, the filmgoer, is to consider whether you are willing to see LOTS of blood and severed limbs. The only films that come this close to showing the gallons of blood are horror/slasher films. But this is no horror film. It is a slick stylish crime-noir worthy of the price of the ticket. This is a truly amazing film that I will have to see again and own on DVD.
Movie Site: http://sincity-2.com/
The Selig Rating Scale:
FULL PRICE – Excellent movie, well worth the price
MATINEE – Good movie
DOLLAR – OK movie
CABLE – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
FREEBIE – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn't paid for it.
COMMERCIAL TV – Commercials and cutting to the allotted time will not hurt this one.
FORGET IT! – Bad. If you see this one, do yourself a favor and keep it to yourself.
GET YOUR TORCHES – BAD! – Burn the script, the writer, the director and maybe even the actors!
