2014 Reviews #34: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For I think I might make a list of the best trailers of 2014 in addition to the list of my overall favorite movies of the year. Just because I feel like the trailers for this movie really deserve some recognition. Seriously, if you havent seen the trailer for this movie, go watch it! Now! Sin City: A Dame to Kill For stars way too many people to mention them all, but the sort of main five are Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Josh Brolin, Micky Rourke, Jessica Alba, and Eva Green as the title character. Its still written and directed by Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller, and still has that unique visual style that reminds you Robert Rodriguez is directing this thing. Like I said, in my intro I thought the trailer for this movie was amazing, and Im a huge fan of the first Sin City, so naturally I was very excited to see this. Although, recently Ive discovered that when I love a trailer, the movie rarely ever lives up to my expectations or hopes. So in the last few weeks I kind of forced myself to not expect all that much from this movie, and as the luke-warm reviews came out, I started to think I did the right thing. Now that Ive seen it I can safely say that Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is a very solid movie, but its nowhere near as good as the first one. I really did like this movie, I just had a few problems with it. First Ill talk about what I did like, though. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is a new addition to the cast and he does a really good job. His segments in the movie were probably where I was most invested and I honestly felt like his character was one of the most interesting ones in there. I also still love Mickey Rourke in this movie. He was great in the first, and hes just as good here. Im glad they didnt get rid of him because hes like one of the only actors returning from the first movie. Jessica Alba is also returning, and she does a good job. I think she actually did a better job in this movie than she did in the first one. I didnt think she was great in the first one; she wasnt terrible or anything, just not great. But here she has a lot more to do, and is definitely more interesting now. Bruce Willis is still very good but he only has like three lines of dialogue, so dont go to this expecting to see him a lot. Im not a huge fan of Robert Rodriguez in general, but he does do a very good job with these movies. The visual style really is groundbreaking and I think these movies really wouldnt be much without his style, and Frank Millers assistance. I cant really call the dialogue good because its sometimes B-movie-esque, but its always intentional, so its definitely not a flaw. I personally love the way these movies are written, but I cant really say its good filmmaking. Now, I said that Im not a huge fan of Robert Rodriguez, and its because it seems like he becomes so involved in his projects that he doesnt know when hes filmed something that could just be cut right out of the film. It also seems like he has a tendency to take over in the editing room, and kind of use editing to get the characters out of situations that they otherwise wouldnt be able to escape from. My second complaint only shows itself once or twice, but the first is a big issue with SC:ADTKF. As hinted at above, my biggest problem with the movie is that there are large sections of the movie that could honestly just be taken out, and nobody would know the difference. Because of this, the pacing is kind of all over the place. There are sections (like Joseph Gordon-Levitts), that are very exciting and fast-paced, but then it really loses its momentum when it goes to the Dame to Kill For section, which sucks because the title vignette of the movie is the least interesting. Eva Green and Josh Brolin are the main characters in that section, and they both do very well, its just that their section becomes very plot-heavy, and kind of skips on the dark, seedy atmosphere that makes Sin City so iconic. This movie is shorter than the first one and it felt longer. In the first movie, I looked at my watch and realized there was still an hour left, and I got excited. But here, I was kind of like really they still have 30 minutes left? I think the reason that so much of this movie drags is because it isnt nearly as dark as the first movie. The first Sin City had me glued to the screen because none of its dialogue felt throw-away, and it all added to the kind of grimy, dirty, bleak atmosphere that is Sin City. The first movie really gave me the impression that this place is just a few steps away from complete anarchy. The criminals are all insane, blood-thirsty, lunatics, and the cops are even worse. We got a yellow, mutated, child molester in the first movie. Along with Elijah Woods insane cannibal, women killer. But here, we just have Eva Green, and no matter how menacing she is, she cant live up to the evil that we saw in the first movie. It just feels like this was much more tame than the first Sin City, which is too bad because it kind of renders Sin City 2 a forgettable, but entertaining time at the movies. These movies should go all out, bat-shit insane, and even get stupid before they become forgettable. Anyway, I did like this movie, and I wasnt really disappointed because I didnt think that it would live up to the trailers potential anyway. I liked certain things, I thought the visuals were still amazing, possibly even more than the first movie, and the acting was all pretty great (in that weird B-movie way). I just wish they had focused more on the atmosphere, tone, and pacing rather than a sort of corny betrayal plot. I just wish it had been crazier, and bigger than the first one, rather than just living in its shadow. When I said these movies should get stupid before forgettable, what I mean is that I would rather see a terrible, but absolutely insane Sin City movie, than a good, but forgettable one. I just really love when these movies get gross, and explore that dark atmosphere the first movie did so well. If you liked the first Sin City youll definitely still enjoy this one, its just not as good. If you didnt like the first one, youre definitely not going to like this one. Simple as that, really. OVERALL GRADE: B
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 04:11:30 +0000
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