Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (Rated C)
Cast: Josh Brolin, Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Eva Green
Genre: Crime Thriller
Dwight's Rating: 2
Instagram, Candy Crush Saga, "Keeping Up With The Kardashians": all things that have come about in the last ten years that the world would have probably done well without.
You can add "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For" to that list as well. This sequel to the amazing "Sin City" - celebrating its 10th anniversary of release next year - is an answer to a question that I'm sure few people were asking.
"Why not make a sequel to that innovative, breathtaking classic?" you ask. Well, because it was nearly perfect, and because many of the major characters were killed, and the story lines neatly wrapped up. Had just two or three passed, then perhaps a case could have been made. But nine? "Nein!"
The original, of course, was based on the graphic crime novel series from Frank Miller, who wrote and directed the film along with Robert Rodriguez and "guest director" Quentin Tarantino. Featuring an all-star cast - including Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Rosario Dawson and Clive Owen - it was an anthology focusing on several story lines that often intersected. Additionally, it was shot to look like a black-and-white movie from the film noir era, with accents of color for dramatic effect.
Fast forward to 2014. Tarantino is nowhere to be found, and a couple of the cast members have also disappeared; most notably, Clive Owen has been replaced with Josh Brolin. New additions include Joseph Gordon-Levitt ("Don Jon") and Eva Green ("300: Rise of An Empire"), but for the most part, we see largely the same characters, picking up where "Sin City" left off.
As it's been a number of years since I watched the mesmerizing original, I decided to watch it again before seeing the new flick. Would it hold up? Was it as special as I remembered? The answer: Absolutely! The original is as memorable as ever. Slick! Stylish! Sexy! Beautiful! Big shoes to fill for the sequel that nobody asked for!
With the new film, there's good, there's bad, and there's ugly. The good: visually, "A Dame To Kill For" is quite interesting. It looks like a black-and-white comic book, with an intriguing use of lighting. It's quite a sight to behold!
But that's pretty much where the positives end, and everything else is just bad and ugly. While color was used sparingly in the original to highlight pivotal characters, a woman's dress or lips, or a gun, this time around color seems to be an overdone and abused gimmick. Almost every scene has something colorized, and often it's something of dubious or questionable significance.
It's also afflicted with the same over-reliance-on-special-effects problem plaguing every modern action movie. Thus, what had been a stylish and mature neo-film noir, has given way to something decidedly more cartoonish.
And more gruesome! The original is undoubtedly an incredibly violent movie. But this sequel is out of control. In addition to someone being shot every few minutes, the severed head count is absolutely astounding. Heads chopped clean off! Over and over!
And then there's the eye gouging!
The biggest problem though lies in the script. Dialogue that had been an evocative and provocative homage to the best of the film noir era, is replaced by something much more juvenile. It's as if a junior high school student had been asked to submit something for a creative writing class. The vignettes are much less inspired. With the possible exception of the title "A Dame To Kill For" story line featuring Green and Brolin (who gives the best part of the whole film), the story lines are lifeless and dull.
I keep harking back to the original. And it's hard to believe that this could have come from the same writing and directing team. Perhaps if I had not ever watched or re-watched it, I might have a slightly better impression of this new edition. But alas, it's simply a pathetic waste of talent, and an unsatisfying and unnecessary movie that didn't need to be made. Its only saving grace is its visual appeal.
Be thankful that based on its lackluster box office performance, we're unlikely to see another mistake like this in the next ten years. One of those Kardashians would stand a better chance of becoming president of the United States than that ever happening.
o Dwight Strachan is the host/producer of " Morning Blend" on Guardian Radio. He is a television producer and writer, and an avid TV history and film buff. Email dwight@nasguard.com and follow him on twitter @morningblend969.

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