'Sin City: A Dame to Kill For': Most critics aren't won over by the film
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Molly Driscoll Staff Writer
A sequel to the 2005 film 鈥�Sin City,鈥� based on Frank Miller's comics of the same name, about the crime-ridden fictional town of Basin City, hits theaters today. What are critics saying?聽
So far, the film 鈥淪in City: A Dame to Kill For,鈥� which is co-directed by Miller and Robert Rodriguez and stars Josh Brolin, Jessica Alba, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Mickey Rourke, among others, has been mostly negatively received by critics, currently holding a score of 44 out of 100 on the review aggregator website . By contrast, the first 鈥淐ity鈥� has a score of 74. The Monitor reviewed the first movie positively as well, awarding it three stars and writing that viewers 鈥渇eel pulp pages turning under your fingers and taste grit as cars fly through the air鈥� and noting that it boasted an 鈥淎-list cast.鈥� Rodriguez and Miller co-directed the first 鈥淐ity鈥� movie as well.
Like the first 鈥淐ity鈥� film, the sequel is a collection of various stories set in Basin City, including that of gambler Johnny (Gordon-Levitt) and private investigator Dwight McCarthy (Brolin).
writer Richard Roeper did receive the movie positively, calling it 鈥渄ark [and] exhilarating.鈥�
鈥淢ost of the film is in spectacular, stunning shades of black and white, but every once in a while there鈥檚 a gorgeous flash of color,鈥� he wrote. 鈥溾�橲in City鈥欌�� still ranks among the finest graphic novel adaptations ever鈥� What a lineup of actors, all pouring themselves into the 鈥楽in City鈥� universe and bringing a level of authenticity to their work, even against the super-stylized sets and special effects that make us feel as if we鈥檙e immersed in the pages of Miller鈥檚 iconic series.鈥�
But reviewer Betsy Sharkey found the movie 鈥渧isually stunning but emotionally vapid.鈥�
鈥淚ts splendiferous comic book cast [is] mostly squandered," she wrote. "鈥楢 Dame to Kill For鈥� has not one but countless tough acts to follow. Still that doesn't mean we weren't hoping Miller and co-director Robert Rodriguez would find a way to up the creative ante. In some ways they have, in many more they haven't鈥� The melodrama is florid beyond belief 鈥� and without relief.鈥澛�
And critic Jeannette Catsoulis found that 鈥渢his marriage of comic-book panels and hard-boiled dialogue has a heaviness that can鈥檛 be explained solely by its cynicism or lack of wit.鈥澛�
