Review of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) by Anthony K — 17 Oct 2014

Some set pieces are still stylish and comically impressive like the original, but the lazy choreography and cinematography, alongside with the hilariously incoherent colorization (in comparison with the original) in most parts rend such unique stylishness to boredom, mediocrity and repetitiveness.

The lack of meaningful connection between the two "Dames to kill for" (Green and Alba) is also alarming. Whereas the first Dame (Green) is indeed poisonously attractive and deserves such "to kill for" due to her superb charisma and haunting beauty (I only wish that Green can have a more diverse choice of roles with her unique prowess and dominating screen presence, but maybe she is unluckily way too beautiful to have such freedom of choice from Hollywood producers), the second (yes, literally!) Dame (Alba) is as terrible and unconvincing as Alba always is.

My conviction of Alba's inability to act is dated back to the days she was still "hot", and now, when she is not "hot" anymore, my conviction turns out to be true more than ever.

Maybe Alba was included in this film for the sake of plot continuity (her character is indeed the only significant connection of the two "Sin City"s), but she acted terribly enough to become the weakest link of the chain of strong female characters in this film despite her "main protagonist" status.

Except for Green, the lack of charisma is also the same pattern for other actors/actresses in this film, even the once-great Mickey Rourke or the ever-dependable Josh Brolin - maybe it is due to the absence of consistent story-telling in such stylish background.

Still, different from the majority of critics and audience (this film is a huge financial loss to the wise Weinstein brothers), this film to me is still enjoyable and interesting enough, if we can ignore the always-presence of J.

Alba.