SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR Is A Fun Return to Frank Miller's Twisted Comic Book Universe

FRANK MILLER'S SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR: Review:

- Here's where I go against the critical conventional wisdom and say that the second SIN CITY film is actually good. Over the last several years, critics and fans, for whatever reason, have turned against Robert Rodriguez. Maybe he made one Machete movie too many. Maybe people are waiting for him to get serious as a filmmaker. Whatever the case may be, Rodriguez remains a filmmaker whose work I largely enjoy, and whose Sin City remains, in my eyes, a great film. The movie came out at a time when every comic book adaptation strove for realism. But Sin City, with its ripped-from-the-graphic-novels aesthetic, was a huge breath of fresh air. Finally, a film that seemed to honor not just the skeleton of the source material from which it was adapted, but one that actually took care to translate the stylized visuals of the comics to the screen.

Meanwhile, Sin City creator Frank Miller's reputation among the geek elite has also been steadily plummeting. Once, the man was a comic book god - the guy who crafted game-changing masterworks like The Dark Knight Returns. As time went on, Miller's extreme style went out of favor, and he didn't do himself any favors with oddball works like All-Star Batman and Robin, or with his spectacular crash-and-burn directorial debut, The Spirit.

However, going into SIN CITY 2 merely as a fan of the first film, I think it's fair to say that this movie exists in a sort of comfort zone for both Rodriguez and Miller. The fact is, this one is not a huge departure from the first film. If you liked that movie, there's nothing not to like here. You get the same gorgeous-to-look-at black-and-white comic book aesthetic (touched up with strategically-placed shocks of red or blue or yellow) - now even more eye-popping in 3D. You get the same gritty yet over-the-top neo-noir-on-acid storytelling - the same motley crew of thugs, vigilantes, dirty cops, strippers, and femme fatales. This is, quite simply, a return trip to the world of Sin City. If you dig Sin City, then you'll dig this.

And what is Sin City? I read so many critics who try to compare this film, and this world, to legit film noir classics and declare it lacking in comparison. Yeah, no kidding. Sin City is film noir, comic book superheroes, 80's-era nihilism, and escapist adolescent fantasy rolled into a blender and spit out and stomped on. Miller's work is over-the-top, unsubtle, and everyone - men and women both - are basically bad apples. To complain that this isn't Out of the Past or The Killing seems to be missing the point entirely.Yes, these movies and this world are completely ridiculous. Sometimes though, there's merit in that.

Now, if you like the world of Sin City, and don't inherently find it offensive, then you'll most likely find some things in this sequel to get excited about. One thing that's fantastic right off the bat is that the great Powers Boothe, as sinister Senator Roarke, figures heavily into the film as it's biggest bad - and as you can probably guess, he's friggin' awesome. I mean, this is Boothe in full-on evil bastard mode, and nobody does it better. Second thing to be excited about is new cast addition Eva Green. Green has been absolutely killing it of late - she wowed in the 300 sequel, and did Emmy-worthy work this past year on the Showtime series Penny Dreadful. Green is similarly great in this film, playing the classic femme fatale, as filtered through the scratchy, cracked lense of the Sin City-verse. It's now clear that Green is the best in the biz at doing these sorts of over-the-top characters. She nails the sort of pulpy, hammy tone that this sort of role requires, mixing old-Hollywood glamor with just the right hint of self-aware winking.

The rest of the cast is pretty uniformly excellent. Mickey Rourke again shines as the lumbering brute Marv. And he's got some great moments with Josh Brolin's hard-luck Dwight. Brolin acquits himself very well to the Sin City-verse, and does hard-boiled like he doesn't know any other way to be. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is also quite good as Johnny, a pushing-his-luck gambler who runs afoul of Boothe's Roarke. Also a stand-out is Christopher Meloni as Mort, an initially by-the-book cop who, in true Sin City fashion, compromises his integrity as he falls under the spell of Green's seductive Ava. Oh - there's also a weird but sort-of-cool Christopher Lloyd cameo.

I suspect a lot of people will point fingers at Jessica Alba as a weak point. I agree that Alba hasn't historically had the sort of forceful presence to fully pull off the role of troubled stripper. But I also think that Alba has grown as an actress, and she is good here. In particular, I really enjoyed her climactic confrontation with Roarke. She doesn't quite match Green for sheer screen presence (few do), but I also wouldn't call her a blatant weak link.

The movie's biggest weakness, I think, is its jumpiness and overall pacing issues. Pacing undeniably feels just a bit off, with fairly abrupt jumps between the film's intermingling but separate storylines, and certain sections that feel overlong and draggy. The movie has some solid action, but it is, overall, a bit slower-paced and more methodical than the first film. And yes, as much as I dig the overall Sin City aesthetic, there are, certainly, moments where it feels pushed a little too far - moments where the movie seems a little too caught up in self-seriousness to realize it should be having fun. But I think that's where Rodriguez's love for pulpy grindhouse filmmaking ultimately steers Miller's grim excesses away from the cliff.

Overall, I really enjoyed SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR. It may simply be more of the same, but it's a lot of fun to just watch these actors go all-out in the service of bringing Frank Miller's twisted world to life. If nothing else, you get to watch Eva Green vamp it up, Mickey Rourke bust heads, and Powers Boothe go full-evil - all in grand, highly-stylized fashion. Not a bad time at the movies.

My Grade: B+

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE Delivers Solid Sequel

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE Review:

- 300 gets a lot of flack and ridicule these days, but when it came out - and you know this to be true - it was badass as hell. Zack Snyder's over-the-top vision of ancient warfare, coupled with the legendary Frank Miller's knack for gritty, alpha-male storytelling, made for a film that was, at the least, not quite like anything we'd seen before.

Now, RISE OF AN EMPIRE could have been a total cash-in. And the lack of Snyder at the helm, the fact that this comes a full nine years after the original, and the fact that it's been oft-delayed and restarted all hinted at potential disaster. But, good news! - the 300 sequel (well, sort of - it actually takes place in parallel with the original's story) is actually a pretty entertaining, well-made flick. Any fans of the original will enjoy this one. And while it may feel a bit like a retread, the presence of some excellent actors, and a primarily oceanic setting, gives this one a unique feel and personality.

The story takes place during and around that of 300. In that film, Gerard Butler's Leonidas led his over-matched band of 300 Spartans to battle against the conquering forces of the god-king Xerxes. In this film, we follow the larger war being waged between Xerxes and his Persian armies versus all of Greece. We follow the Athenian admiral Themistocles (Sullivan Stapleton) as he attempts to take the fight to Xerxes. He tries to recruit various nation-states to aid in his cause, but when he gets to Sparta, Queen Gorgo (Lena Heady, reprising her role from the original) informs him that Leonidas has already taken his men to attack the Persian armies. Themistocles rallies what troops he does have to fight Xerxes on the high seas, via naval attack. But to do so, he's got to go through the merciless Persian general Artemisia (Eva Green), who commands Xerxes' fleets.

While Stapleton's Themistocles is the movie's main character, make no mistake - this is Eva Green's movie. As Artemisia, Green is just plain awesome. She kicks ass, takes names, and looks great doing it. Her character has a pretty interesting backstory to boot - a slave girl who was taken in by the Persian king, who helped a young prince Xerxes to come out of his shell when his father was murdered, and aided in his transformation from geek to god ... only to realize that she may have created a monster. Suffice it to say, Green pretty much owns it in the movie - barking orders, lobbing off heads, and seducing hapless rivals (sometimes all three at the same time!) with relish. After seeing the film, I couldn't help but think that perhaps there was a missed opportunity in not casting Green as Wonder Woman.

Stapleton is pretty solid, but he comes off as a bit of a pushover as compared to Green's more formidable Artemisia. Still, he's got some gravitas, and he's a fine actor. The best scene of the film - which he and Green both nail (so to speak) - is an over-the-top negotiation/seduction between Themistocles and Artemisia that is a true clash of the titans. It's no surprise, of course, that Artemisia comes out on top (so to speak). But Stapleton, while not as charismatic or as amusingly insane as Butler's Leonidas, does lend an air of sophistication to the proceedings.

I also really enjoyed Lena Heady (as usual) reprising her role as Gorgo. Heady is just fantastic at these sorts of roles, and she hasn't missed a beat since 300. She plays a small but key role here, and she owns some of the movie's best and biggest moments. I also enjoyed seeing David Wenham return, even if only for a small role. If you recall, he's the dude who narrates 300 and, due to his gravitas-filled voice, was clearly born to narrate badass movies about ancient Greece.

Noam Murro directs, and at first glance, you wouldn't be able to tell that it wasn't Zack Snyder. The look and feel of the original 300 is essentially reproduced here. However, what this movie is missing are those absolutely jaw-dropping visual moments that Snyder had in the original. RISE OF AN EMPIRE has plenty of cool visuals, but the action feels a little generic, overall, as compared to the first film. Murro emulates Snyder's trademark speed-up/slow-down maneuvers, but they feel sort of arbitrarily thrown into the mix here, and lack the desired wow factor. Part of the problem is that some of the film's naval battles just feel repetitive after a while. While the sight of naval warfare makes for some epic moments, it loses its novelty after a while, and you yearn for some good ol' fashioned sword-against-shield combat. Luckily, the movie does have at least a couple of good hand-to-hand battles - accompanied by a few genuinely "oh $%&^!" moments - to satiate the bloodlust of the 300 faithful (don't worry - it's all cartoonish/comic-booky and in good fun).

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE delivers some satisfying action, recaptures some of the fun of 300, and features a must-see performance from Eva Green. Ultimately, it drags a bit and loses momentum - there just aren't enough twists or interesting plot developments - and Themistocles is a little too bland - to sustain interest for the film's entire running time. But this remains a surprisingly pretty-good companion piece to an iconic action movie.

My Grade: B