Sin City: A Dame to Kill For Movie Blurb by Shale August 22, 2014 I saw Sin City in 2005, the splashing of a Frank Miller grafic novel across the big screen. I love this kind of art film, where live-action gives way to illustration and colors are manipulated as if drawn onto the paper page. If you are unfamiliar with the original, this sequel 9 years later picks up some of the characters and story elements but like the original it is a collection of vignettes each its own story but sharing characters and sometimes intertwined. It starts with a narrative in the 1950s pulp style with Marv (Mickey Rourke) getting up from a bad car accident involving a police car. The story then flashes back to how he ended up there. It is just one little story of violence unrelated to the overall arch. Then it moves to another dark story about Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) a cocky young gambler who has an encounter in a high-stakes poker game with the crooked Senator Roark (Powers Boothe - from the original story). Johnny Coming into Sin City In the bar is stripper Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) who was in the original movie being attacked by Senator Roark's insane son who was killed by police officer John Hartigan (Bruce Willis), before he also died. Nancy Callahan Making a Living in Sin City Nancy is still quite pissed about that event and is going mad with resentment and hatred of Senator Roark and is drinking and having hallucinations about Hartigan. She is also a friend of Marv who looks out for her. Hartigan's Ghost Then there is Ava Lord (Eva Green) the dame to kill for. She has a love/hate relationship with Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin) who fights his personal demons and can't seem to resist her. This opens up a whole area of intrigue, mystery, murder and mayhem, which is what a Frank Miller grafic novel and movie is about. Ava, a Killer Dame The reviews for this movie were mixed and only 42% of the aggregate critics on Rottentomatoes liked it. Their consensus was "A Dame to Kill For boasts the same stylish violence and striking visual palette as the original Sin City, but lacks its predecessor's brutal impact." Of course, it is a sequel. They rarely live up to the impact of the original movie. But, I enjoyed it as did 77% of audiences. Stylish violence and striking visuals goes a long way with some of us.
