The elapsing years have seen far reaching technological advances, and though Sin City did not usher in an era of comic book movies that mirrored its approach and tone, there is a far wider swath of comic-based films today than there were even ten-years ago. As a result, it’s all-but impossible to recapture the refreshing and innovative experience that the first film offered moviegoers.
For Sin City fans, A Dame to Kill For will likely feel like revisiting an old friend. As with the first, the film interweaves a collection of Frank Miller’s Sin City tales; two pre-existing - "Just Another Saturday Night" and "A Dame to Kill For" - and two original stories written specifically for the film - "The Long Bad Night" and "Nancy's Last Dance". The connective tissue between the four can feel manufactured and clunky in moments and the transition from one interlude to the next isn't quite as seamlessly rendered as it was in the original.The stories themselves are stripped down mini-thrillers that follow the tropes of noir nearly beat for beat. There are no true twists or surprises in play, nor are these complex character explorations; as a result, it’s really the heightened theatricality of the style and the performances that drives the film. Mickey Rourke returns as Marv to anchor the film in both the first and final tale, and might easily be called the stand-out if it weren’t for Eva Green’s turn as the titular Dame, Ava Lord. Green is breathtakingly villainous and captivating as the soulless woman driven by a greed that can never be satiated. In a cast of heavy-hitters who each dig into the task at hand with relish, Rourke and Green manage to breathe fire into and elevate otherwise straightforward characters and stories.Though Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings the wise-cracking gambler Johnny to vivid life, his Sin City tale ultimately reads as shoehorned in. It does little to propel the overarching engine and in some ways leaves one searching for the point of its inclusion. Other than crystallizing that Powers Boothe's Senator Roark - who has already been established as vicious - is also utterly heartless, "The Long Bad Night" adds little to the film as a whole.
In total, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is everything that those familiar with Rodriguez’s first film might expect. The final installment, Nancy’s Last Dance - in which Jessica Alba transforms Nancy, the once light-hearted stripper with a heart of gold, into a tormented soul bent on vengeance - feels like a period on the end of the sentence that was Sin City’s “That Yellow Bastard.”
Other than utilizing the improved technology, though, A Dame to Kill For does not eclipse the first film, which ultimately felt tighter and certainly had the advantage of presenting a novel world for audiences to immerse themselves in. However, this is an enjoyable ride for those who appreciate Rodriguez and Miller’s homage to the hard-boiled detective yarns of the past, as well as fans keen to step into the pages of the latter’s created universe for a couple of hours.
