Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For

Though it was intentionally lowbrow, the original Sin City made an impact. It had two things this film did not: firstly, the surprising novelty of a film intentionally made to look like a noir comic, Frank Miller style. Secondly, variety. It goes the same way as the 300 sequel – it lacks the same impact in stylistic terms, being a sequel, and suffers from much duller writing and far less engaging characters. I’m with the multitude of critics who have expressed surprise that this film, with all its ultraviolence and nudity and explosions is so very dull. It simply isn’t as fun as the first film. Not even close.

This film largely revolves around how evil Sin City’s senator is, and the various people who hate him. Joseph Gordon Levett has an abortive storyline made just to push home how nasty he is, where the only surprise is that his story goes in the most obvious way possible, rather than him revealing some greater plan. Otherwise, Bruce Willis’ ghost looms over his wife, who wants revenge for her husband being driven to suicide, and goes from stripper to badass with the help of the film’s real hero, tough-as-nails righteous psycho Marv, who we’re supposed to cheer for as he brutally kills four nasty rich kids who were themselves reprehensible murderers. Marv is also the muscle-for-hire in the film’s other main story, in which a tortured photographer is manipulated by his ex into killing her new husband, despite her incredibly strong manservant. Perhaps the most interesting thing to come out of the film is the potential debate over whether Eva Green’s character in her classic femme fatale exploitation role is a sexualised, abused product of the Hollywood system playing a hackneyed, un-PC character type and getting naked for the purposes of the male gaze, or whether in being the real manipulator who uses her body as she wishes and is in fact the rapist of the piece, is a powerful symbol of empowered womanhood.

Otherwise, it doesn’t look as startling as before, and the token Asian girl with the katana’s violent parts just lack any kind of visceral impact. It seems like the first film showed all the best tricks, and nothing is really left here, so they’re going through the motions with the stylised look. Nothing seems daring or innovative, which is a real problem here. Disappointing.