Movies and Philosophy Now: SIN CITY: A Dame to Kill For between all the Booze, Broads and Bullets

by Christopher Barr

“Sin City’s where you go in with your eyes open, or you don’t come out at all.”

Frank Miller’s

SIN CITY: A Dame to Kill For is the sequel / prequel to the 2005 film Sin City, both films are based pretty well exactly on the Frank Miller neo-noir series, Sin City. The first film was fresh both visually and technologically; it had a great cast of actors willing to go along with directors Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez’s vision for the film, and it paid off for everyone involved.

A Dame to Kill For was okay but unfortunately it was forgettable. The freshness and excitement of the original is gone, the big cast was there but wasn’t as impressive, save the always necessary and stunningly beautiful, Eva Green. Joseph Gordon Levitt’s story line was, to be frank, a waste of running time, an odd arc indeed, which ended with no apparent character goal other than suicide by asshole.

Because the film lacked any emotional gravitas, caring for the characters was a problem. The only person in the movie I cared about was Nancy, that’s right the Jessica Alba character. Her story line had meaning and weight to it enough to feel a concern about. She clearly went through hell and from what we can see, didn’t deserve any of it, so her little revenge plot toward the end was satisfying in a way the rest of the film was not.

Visually the movie looked great, not surpassing the first Sin City at all. The violence and sexuality in the movie was all there like in the first one but because this one was doing it all over again, it seemed more pointless, other than any scene Eva Green was in. Frank Miller, in his comic series, was overtly hinting at the saturation and escalating violence that America was turning itself into in the late 80’s early 90’s. Although using his comic as a story board for the film, this sentiment is somewhat lost of the big screen. The violence is meaningless, which is certainly the point in the comic book but here; it is more glorified and fun, especially in A Dame to Kill For, thus losing its original commentary.

In 2005’s Sin City, John Hartigan was trying to save little Nancy Callahan from a sick pedophile that becomes the Yellow Bastard, thanks to Hartigan. Marv was avenging the murder of a woman, which he believed cared for him when no one else did, from some sick serial killer cannibal. Dwight was protecting his girlfriend from an insane Basin City cop, Jackie Boy. They all had interesting and justifiable motives that were constructed to hold an audience.

A Dame to Kill For didn’t have hardly any of that. Marv’s story line wasn’t nearly as compelling and Hartigan was barely present. Dwight was dumb and deserved to be bamboozled by Ava Lord, the seductress that was turning men into monsters at will. Nancy’s story had solid history from the first film, as a result it was more compelling, which is why directors Robert and Frank likely kept it for the last segment of the film.