Box office results show Sin City II: A Dame to Die For is DOA. The opening weekend box office results were a little below the last Little Lulu cartoon to hit the big screen. This despite a cast including Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rosario Dawson, Eva Green, Powers Boothe, Dennis Haysbert, Ray Liotta, Shari Lewis and Lambchop. Actually the last two aren’t in the film but, yes, each and every one of the others is. And they don’t work cheap. With the dismal box office results, somebody is going to pay up, big time. And it won’t be the audiences.
I admit this type of film is not everybody’s cup of tea. But if you enjoy film noir at its best – plus violence, torture, nudity, sex and bad language – you might find this film is your cup of tea. Like the original Sin City (2005), this film has a black and white tabloid look. There are touches of color, but it’s hard to figure out why. The story takes place in the fictional town of Easin. The E-A on the road sign are obliterated, so we’re left with the remaining letters – S-I-N – as the title location.
The movie is based on a violent graphic novel, and much of the film appears to be animated. The rest is just reprocessed footage using that laundry list of real actors to make the film seem even more horrific than it really is.
The characters are Super- men and -women, who may or may not be susceptible to violent death depending on their importance to the story line. Like the first film, there are numerous episodic themes running simultaneously, plus new characters and a few “old hands” who appear here and there throughout the narrative.
Living in Sin City isn’t easy, because everybody is basically evil – although a few are better intentioned and limit their victims only 10 a day. Returning for another outing are the inner city girls, all experts in death, who never worry about anything more than how and when to start killing again. Other characters return from part one to explain the action in part two. It’s not always clear, in any case. What is clear is that there’s a level of violence and depravity that stretches the limits.
Both Sin City I and II look fantastic. If it wasn’t for the never-ending brutality and violence, they would be considered art. Unfortunately, the art is usually overwhelmed by gushing blood from severed heads and any other body parts standing in the way of certain characters. There’s also lots of smoking and drinking, but none of it seems to calm anyone down. No matter what you think, I honestly liked this movie, but not as much as Abraham Lincoln Vampire Killer.
Rated 2.8 out of 4.0 reasons box office results say, No Sin City III. Sorry.