Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Josh Brolin, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Eva Green, Powers Boothe, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Dennis Haysbert, Ray Liotta, Christopher Meloni, Jeremy Piven, Christopher Lloyd, Jaime King, Juno Temple, Stacy Keach, Marton Csokas, Jude Ciccolella, Jude Ciccolella, Jamie Chung, Julia Garner, Lady Gaga, Alexa PenaVega, Patricia Vonne, Bart Fletcher, Alejandro Rose-Garcia, Samuel Davis, Mike Davis, Kimberly Cox, Alcides Dias.
For fans of graphic novelist Frank Miller, the cinematic release of Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For is arguably the one event of the year that has had them slavering in the type of frenzy that was usually reserved for the opening day of the sales and crowds of impatient shoppers shoving each other aside in some sort economic scrum.
Of course cinema goers are a lot more polite than shoppers counting down the minutes to the moment when a young assistant opens the doors wearing the type of protective gear seen during the American Football’s grand final; The Superbowl. So the only blood being shed is of the variety shown in the best of Miller traditions, graphic, unmistakeable and overwhelmingly and absolutely indispensable.
It has been far too long between the release of the two films but time has not has not just been kind, it has looked after the ideology set down by the several Sin City graphic novels and is as near faithful as it can be to the much loved artwork and storyline. If anything Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For is its predecessors equal, no mean feat bearing in mind just how good the original was.
The film evokes and enhances the thought of 21st Century cinematic Neo-Noir filming. Noir has been much undervalued in the last 20 years but it is something to think of that the deeper the planet teeters on the abyss, whether it is financial or by the hands of impending war, just how much Noir comes back into the minds of audiences as a staple diet in which to get their fix.
Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For as a film is no different to that in which films such as Brighton Rock was to cinema audiences in the 1950s who were under the threat of annihilation as tensions rose between the United States and the U.S.S.R. or crowds who flocked to numerous films of the genre in the 1930s who were staring down the barrel of the gun as World War Two started to seem inevitable. The more uncomfortable humanity feels, the more Film Noir becomes a relevant genre to enjoy.
The film itself sees some great performances from the brilliant Jessica Alba as Nancy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Juno Temple, Eva Green and Dennis Haysbert, who perhaps has the most unenviable task of stepping into the shoes of Michael Clarke Duncan after the actor’s untimely passing in the role of Manute. However it is in the performances of Powers Boothe, Mickey Rourke and above all Josh Brolin who embodies the spirit of Dwight perfectly, that the film keeps its fast pace and compelling nature. The scenes between Josh Brolin and Eva Green and the look at the life of showgirl/dancer Nancy after the suicide of her initial saviour Hartigan in the previous film, all make the senses flip for joy in a way that at times only a good dose of Noir can do.
Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For is a film to die for. A film that was well worth the wait and proves that no matter what there is always a need for Film Noir.
Ian D. Hall