Review of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) by Gamed2Long — 24 Aug 2014

If you weren't a fan of the original Sin City, you won't like this one either. If you were a fan you may come off a bit disappointed. As a sequel there is more unnecessary gore, nudity, and over the top "graphic novel" style. Unfortunately this came at the expense of things like "heart" and "cohesive storytelling." The story of Nancy (played by Jessica Alba) coming unhinged is the closest the story comes to having a sympathetic character. There were some interesting cinematic flourishes but in general they were under-done or poorly utilized.

Perhaps if they'd tried to tell fewer stories we as an audience would have gotten more invested in them. Or maybe if the stories were tied together in some meaningful way instead of being seemingly random. Instead we get a story so focused on its neo-noir world that the characters end up flat. I wanted to root for Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the mysterious gambler, but his character was so generic that when (Big spoiler omitted) happened I had no sympathy for him at all. It seemed the logical outcome.

All in all this film is an alright flick. Certainly there is much worse out there.