Sin City 2 Review by Robert Sousa(spoiler alert)
August 26, 2014 1:20 am | Leave your thoughts
When I first saw the theatrical trailer for Sin City I could not believe what I was seeing. I had never seen anything like it and was completely blown away by the visuals and art style. I watched the trailer every day until the movie came out and when it finally did, I found the substance of the movie was able to match the unbelievable style. Sin City is one of my personal favorite movies so it has been a long wait for the sequel. As we approached the release date I couldn’t help but get more excited to return to this rough city with its outrageous inhabitants. Similar to the original formula with a stunning art direction, over the top violence, and interesting characters, Sin City 2 is a good follow up although a little underwhelming and does not fall into the same class as the original.
Marv speaks the first words of the film, and it is great to hear his voice once again. It really sets the mood for reentering Sin City. The opening story shows what we love about these movies as Marv is on a mission of vengeance that incorporates destruction, great visuals, and some funny dialogue. We get one of my favorite scenes where Marv forcefully takes a police car by removing the driver and passenger as the car is still moving. Not the most complex or interesting storyline but more of a quick reintroduction for what’s in store.
The next story introduces a new character Johnny, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who helms my favorite story arc of the movie. The character of Johnny fits the universe very well as a gambler who literally never loses. This gift that Johnny has is believable to this film and adds more mythology to this world. Every scene with Johnny and Marv is great as they compete at the table, and we discover a greater connection between the two. This connection leads to some of the more emotional scenes as you feel for Johnny and what he is being put through, by action or words. The end to this chapter is a bit anti-climactic, and we unfortunately may not be able to move forward with more stories on Johnny. I enjoyed this arc the best as I love the character and feel it has the most emotion in part to some spectacular scenes with Roarke.
The third story takes us before the events of the original where Dwight is dealing with a complicated relationship with his former lover, Ava. Most of this story feels slow as Ava plays her mind games with each character, and Dwight deals with his confusion on how to deal with her and the feelings she brings to him. We eventually get a fun pairing as Marv joins in to assist Dwight. Like Game of Thrones, where the universe is as much a character as anyone, it is always fascinating to see people come across each other and work together. The backstory on Manute is done through this arc and he becomes an intriguing character when on screen. Like Johnny he is a character that has an ‘unnatural’ aspect as he is nearly indestructible and again adds more lore to the universe. The arc, and the movie, really pick up at the climax where Dwight seeks a final solution with the help of some ladies from Old Town. Here we get some great action scenes and the most emotion from this arc. While it starts off slow, this storyline has great characters throughout and gives a satisfying ending.
The final arc goes to sequel status again as Nancy is struggling to deal with the suicide of Hartigan. Like the first arc, this is a quick chapter that relies more on what we know of the characters for backstory. Straightforward, Nancy wants revenge on Roarke who is the reason Hartigan killed himself. It is fairly emotional as we see Nancy in a completely different state of mind than the first movie, as she is angry, constantly drinking, and focused on revenge. A great part of the arc is multiple times Hartigan’s ghost is present trying to steer her in the right direction. This arc goes quick and because of that feels a little rushed, and I did not find the final moments as satisfying as it could have been, especially, like with Johnny, we lose an awesome character we may not get more stories on. Sin City 2 ends with a quick chapter that has a resolution to events in the first, but could have been more fleshed out and satisfying.
Like the first, we have a cast full of big names that give solid performances. Mickey Rourke and Jessica Alba expand more on their characters, showing them in different emotional points than when we left them. Josh Brolin comes in for Clive Owen in a move I feel overall did not work well. Brolin was ok, but did not seem to have the energy or emotion given by Owen. Owen brought an edge to the character that could not be replicated here and this version of Dwight was less interesting. JGL and Eva Green come in as all new characters and have a major impact. JGL fits his character very well and has especially great scenes with Powers Boothe, who has an expanded role. Really every scene with Boothe was great and he may be the star of the film. Eva Green plays her character flawlessly and, like Booth, steals every scene she is featured. Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Jamie King, Jeremey Piven, Christopher Lloyd, and more make appearances to complete a cast of well-known actors that enhance the movie.
The first thing I, and most people, noticed about the first movie is the visuals. In the sequel the visuals are again one of the high points of the movie. I love the limited use of color: red sirens, Ava’s green eyes, and Marcie being fully colored. Also, effects like the lenses on glasses being white and blood squirting white really give it a great artistic style unlike anything else. There is only one point, in the beginning storyline, where the background, is the city, and doesn’t look great, but that is the only complaint I have with the art and visuals.
Sin City 2 is a taste it. If you’re a fan of the first definitely watch this one, just don’t expect it to be as great. If you haven’t seen the first I would highly recommend that, but even if you haven’t, this one is worth a viewing. Part two brings back some favorite characters, expands, and even brings closure to their storylines. They also add some remarkable characters that enlarge the universe. The visual style is back, and the movie is worth checking out for that alone. The long time period between these two will probably be more harmful for casual movie goers, but I would have seen this whenever it came out. Hopefully we will not have to wait another nine years to go back to the city.
Categorised in: Movie Reviews
This post was written by David Griffin
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