Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)

Director: Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Powers Booth, Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Bruce Willis, Dennis Haysbert, Ray Liotta
Certificate: 18
Genre: Action, Crime, Noir
Awards: None

It has been almost a decade since the original Sin City stunned its way to our screens and people have been asking for more ever since. Sin City was a great film in turns of visuals and the stories complemented the noir mood that was established.

A Dame To Kill For tells three new stories (one from Miller's comics and two originals) with different characters to its predecessor (except Dwight Mcarthy who only feels different due to being played by Brolin rather than Clive Owen) and it seems the best way to review the film is to review each story in turn.

The story the film is named after stars Dwight a few years before the events of Sin City. Dwight is a private investigator who comes across Ava Lorde (Green), an ex he is not too friendly with, who asks for his help. This, of course, leads to a great deal of bloody violence with some recognisable characters such as Manute (Haysbert taking over from the late Michael Clarke Duncan) and Marv (Rourke). The story overall is quite predictable, yet that doesn't stop it from being entertaining. Visually, it is great. Eyes are ripped out and faces are torn open while both Brolin and Green give everything they've got for their characters. However, Owen is still missed as the performances are so different that they feel like different characters.

The second story seems to stick out a bit, having nothing to do with any story from either film. Johnny (Gordon-Levitt) is a cocky gambler who comes to Sin City in order to win everywhere he can. During his parade, he comes across Senator Rourke (Booth) and makes himself a very powerful enemy. Although the story is interesting enough, the promise it shows is never fulfilled and it seems much more could have been done with it.

The final story follows Nancy (Alba) who has fallen into a drunken nightmare since the death of Hartigan (Willis) in the original. Now looking for revenge on Rourke, she too gains the help of Marv and the two take him on in his mansion.

Compare A Dame To Kill For with its predecessor and you are likely to be disappointed, yet it is not a bad film. The visual style is still the real star of the show and it could be argued that it has improved. And there is still calling for more as I for one would like to see more stories.

****Good