I enjoyed the original Sin City and it’s comic book-style (I don’t think I was aware that it was born in a series of graphic novels, when I first saw it) upon its release as I still do to this day. I had some expectation for Sin City 2 but, I’d also become aware of the average review scores plastered across the internet.
So, based on those reviews (scores alone), I sat down for A Dame to Kill For, expecting to feel somewhat underwhelmed by the end of it…
Looking at the trailers, you could see a new line of A-listers had been fed in to this one. Having now seen the film, I feel I can say that the imposing figures of Dennis Haysbert, Josh Brolin and Powers Boothe fit in to the Sin City universe as perfectly as Mickey Rourke and his… Face.
I enjoyed the interactions involving each of their respective characters and it reminded me very much of the first film and in an entertaining manner. Likewise, with the addition of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (even though he looks far too young for his character’s supposed age…). Eva Green would be the ‘Dame to Kill For‘ and it is, like another film I watched not long ago; an excuse for her to take her clothes off… I don’t know. I mean, a film like this doesn’t need that, in my opinion. To be fair, I wasn’t that impressed with her character’s ‘main intention’ during this film and the consequences of people she came to interact with…
At the end of the first film *SPOILER ALERT FOR ANYONE WHO’S NOT SEEN IT*, Hartigan takes “both” of Roark Jr’s weapons. Sin City 2, sadly, doesn’t have an ending quite like that.
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Taken 3 then. I loved the original, wasn’t very impressed with Taken 2 (although it didn’t stop me re-watching it on Film4+1 recently) and having seen the trailers in the cinema last year, I felt like there wasn’t going to be a lot left to discover in this third (and hopefully final) installment.
Liam Neeson himself once said in an interview that he was disappointed that the trailer alone revealed so much about the film. So, my expectations weren’t high, seeing as trilogies (think of The Matrix) don’t tend to dramatically improve at their end.
With the original film, it was often suggested as though it was heavily influenced by The Bourne Identity and it is clear to see why. There were parts in the early stages of this film where I felt they were trying to recreate that chase scene from Point Break (the original – please don’t mention the remake). Forest Whitaker is the big name to join the casting this time and he appears to reprise his role at Captain Ramey from Phone Booth.
Taken 3 was somewhat predictable but I certainly enjoyed it a lot more than the second film. There were a couple more of the Die Hard-esque stunts. Some of the actions scenes reminded me of the first film but I think the reason why these two sequels have ‘failed’ is because they were trying to live up to an intense, fast-moving stalwart, where both films since seem to feature many more of the ‘quiet times’ and action-free moments.
I’d recommend watching Taken 3 if you loved the first film but didn’t like the second. Perhaps then you can explain to me how the character of Stuart St. John has changed from the appearance of Xander Berkley to Dougray Scott in the space of two movies!