It’s been a long time since filmgoers got to visit the dirty and dangerous streets of Sin City. Too long, some might say. We’re talking about a city so corrupt that only the most brokenhearted bad guys, scandalous politicians and seductively sinister streetwalkers would want to call it home. And those are the flawed characters we want to see fall for the wrong women, seek vengeance upon the untouchable and otherwise bestow tragedy upon themselves and those around them once again in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.
Like so much of his other work, Frank Miller‘s Sin City books are basically storyboards waiting to come to life. After he and co-director Robert Rodriguez so deftly adapted some of these tales to the big screen in 2005’s Sin City, they finally bring us another collection of loosely-linked stories, some familiar to fans of the books, some never before told. As was the case with its predecessor, A Dame to Kill For is presented in a black-and-white film noir style, with only certain elements (the bright red lips of a vixen, the golden eye of a brute) in color for dramatic effect. This stylistic tool not only gives the film a retro feel (as do the vintage car styles, outfits, etc.), it also makes it truly feel like it’s jumping right off the pages of the original stories.
The namesake centerpiece of this film features Josh Brolin as Dwight McCarthy, a Sin City antihero who can’t help but be lured back to former flame Ava Lord, a femme fatale if ever there was one played brilliantly by Eva Green. After topping her own over-the-top sex scene from Dark Shadows with an even racier performance in 300: Rise of an Empire (another Miller adaptation), Green manages to outdo herself yet again here, appearing nude and/or copulating probably just as much as (if not more than) she does clothed. So there’s that. Luckily for Dwight, he’s the one who gets to benefit the most from Ava’s nudity. Well, “benefit” may not be the best way to describe the power Ava holds over Dwight, and just about every other male she comes in contact with. In exchange for the sexual gratification, Dwight gets the beating of his life from Ava’s manservant Manute (Dennis Haysbert replacing the late Michael Clarke Duncan), is framed for the death of Ava’s rich husband (Marton Csokas) and eventually has to undergo reconstructive facial surgery at the hands of a prostitute played by Rosario Dawson (which sort of explains why he doesn’t look like Clive Owen, who played the same character in the previous film).
Meanwhile, Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) decides to take the biggest gamble of his life by betting against Sin City’s most dangerous villain Senator Rourke (Powers Boothe). The cocky and charismatic young risk-taker proves to be an impressive poker player, but Rourke is a sore loser and, after allowing Johnny and his new gal pal Marcy (Julia Garner) to celebrate their winnings, has his goons disfigure Johnny. After a $40 surgery by a back-alley doctor (Christopher Lloyd) who resets his broken fingers with popsicle sticks (you get what you pay for), Johnny defines insanity by returning to challenge Rourke to another game of poker, where winning has already resulted in significant loses.
But Johnny’s not the only one seeking revenge against Rourke. Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba), a stripper at Rourke’s own club, has sunken to a depressing state since losing John Hartigan (Bruce Willis). And Rourke is clearly to blame for her loss. Guided by Hartigan’s ghost and assisted by Marv (Mickey Rourke), the brutish bad boy who is the common (and heavily-frayed) thread that runs through each story, a disheveled and determined Nancy decides to take Rourke down once and for all. But Rourke always has another trick up his sleeve, so it’s not going to be an easy task.
These stories are intermingled with one another, sometimes taking place concurrently, other times flashing back or forward, and taking place both before and after the events of the first film. A Dame to Kill For incorporates enough style and humor to make the gruesome violence easier to swallow. And with Miller and Rodriguez at the helm, there’s no reason for it not to stay true to the source material, even expanding upon the original mythos with Johnny and Nancy’s stories. While detractors can argue that the characters lack dimension, the sex is gratuitous and the violence is overt, these are also the very elements around which Sin City is built. Without the caricatures, sexually empowered females and barbaric bloodshed, Sin City wouldn’t be such an interesting place for us to visit.