It's been close to 10 years since Robert Rodriguez brought us Frank Miller's vision of urban decay and decadence to the big screen with the original Sin City (apparently I have never reviewed Sin City, but I did review the bastard cousin of these films here). The original film held the story together, even though it diverged into separate tangents, zig zagging like a runaway gunfight. It's not a masterpiece, but it is a great example of comic/film cinema that really represents the heart of Frank Miller's work.
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (we'll call it Sin City 2 from here on out) is quite frankly a mess, which is strange since this film has been in development from the moment the first film hit theaters. Many of the same characters from the original film return to cause havoc and mayhem in Basin City. There are some new faces and recasts, but the general idea is the same. A collection of stories all tied together into a bigger picture. I won't go into details, but it's the same concepts as the first film. They're just executed very poorly.
I've seen the first film at least half a dozen times, recently watching it about a month before. While watching Sin City 2 I was lost on where this event fell into the chronology of the first film and wondering if there was a plot hole or not. I like movies that make you think, but when I'm sitting there trying to figure out if this is a filmmaker screw up it really dampens the experience of watching the film.
The film cliches itself constantly. Within the first hour three characters are thrown from a moving car. It turns into a running joke and as the film continued on it was almost like I was watching a parody of the first film. What I hoped was going to be a continuation of the story Miller had created turned into a tedious experience that just had me hoping for the end. This turned into one of the worst films of the year and a huge disappointment for me.
I don't know if it was the long length of time it took to get this film made or the need to present it in 3-D (ugh) or poor film making in general, but Sin City 2 is a stinker. If you have never seen the first film or even haven't visited it lately, you will be lost in the convoluted story that literally goes nowhere. If you're a fan of the previous film you will be disappointed.
