“Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” is the long-awaited sequel to the graphically stylized hit from 2005.
It's been nine years, but all the blood, broads and bullets are back in style — and they're delivering the same old, same old. Good news? Nothing has really changed. Bad news? See good news.
Just like the first movie, we get three storylines that occasionally interconnect. One story features Nancy (Jessica Alba) looking to avenge the death of Hartigan (Bruce Willis) by taking down corrupt Sen. Roark (Powers Boothe).
The second storyline involves Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a cocky gambler who gets in way over his head in a deadly game of poker with Sen. Roark. Something tells me the character of Roark is in for one wild night.
The third story takes place years before one of the stories in the first movie, as we meet a young Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin, replacing Clive Owen), a private investigator who's caught up in an affair with his former lover (Eva Green). This is Green's second time this year acting in a comic-book adaptation after “300: Rise of an Empire.” Just as in that sequel, she gives us another campy, seductive performance.
Directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller once again bring their hyper-realistic vision to the screen, but like a lot of sequels, “A Dame to Kill For” seems merely content on revisiting the fun, gory visuals rather than narratively building on them.
Still, I have to say that with all of its over-the-top violence and wicked sense of humor, I didn't really expect anything different. In addition to regulars like Willis and Alba, we also get the return of Mickey Rourke as Marv (having survived his grim execution), and newcomers such as Ray Liotta, Christopher Lloyd and a brief cameo by Lady Gaga.
“Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” provides the type of visual sensations and terrific performances to carry it through. But “Sin City 3” may need Rodriguez and Miller to up the ante — and no, I do not mean the body count.
Grade: B-plus
(Rated R for sustained strong, stylized violence; nudity; and sexual content including dialogue.)
Hall is a syndicated columnist in South Georgia.