Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (3D) [Blu-Ray]
Director(s): Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez
Cast: Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Release Date: Available it on 3D Blu-Ray Combo Pack & DVD November 18th
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 9/10
Plot Summary:
Co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller reunite to bring Miller’s “Sin City” graphic novels back to the screen. Weaving together two of Miller’s classic stories with new tales, the town’s most hard boiled citizens cross paths with some of its more notorious inhabitants.
After many years of waiting, the sequel to the incredible ‘Sin City’ has finally arrived, but unfortunately due to the time in between films, and surely also to some degree as a result of the numerous release date pushback’s just prior to release, it did pretty horrible business at the box office. I know many have asked whether the film is a sequel or a prequel to the first and for those still not certain, it’s really both at the same time. The different stories included this time around take place at varying times once again and therefore fall both before and after different stories in the original film. The film may have been met with heavy criticism and numerous fans of the original claiming it was unbearable and just flat out terrible, but those opinions really are exaggerated, because while it is certainly nowhere near as great as the first, it’s still a pretty solid sequel and a lot of fun.
Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez once again join forces, together directing the sequel just as they did the first film. Frank Miller once again remains the sole writer and while many of the stories were based simply on the source material (just as the original was) a couple of new stories were created just for the movie. Miller and Rodriguez do a pretty solid job once again at the helm and keep that stylish and brutal feel so well captured the first time around. A large majority of the cast returns, including Mickey Rourke, Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis, Powers Booth and a number more reprising their original roles. At the same time a number of roles have been recast, including Dennis Haysbert replacing the late and great Michael Clarke Duncan (for obvious reasons), Jeremy Piven replacing Michael Madsen and a few other recast roles, in addition to some newcomers including but not limited to Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Eva Green,. The entirety of the cast is pretty strong all around and most of them deliver pretty great performances in each of their respective roles.
While it certainly isn’t as phenomenal as its predecessor ‘Sin City: A Dame To Kill For’ nonetheless is an incredibly fun ride of a film and while not up there with it, still a very solid sequel in most respects. It delivers the action-packed stylish fun so notable in the original and the 3D presentation is very impressive and incredibly immersive; definitely one the fellow 3D fans will not want to miss out on. The hate for this movie has been highly over exaggerated in my opinion and if you go in simply expecting a good time and a film very similar ride to the first (just not something superior), you shouldn’t be disappointed and any fans of the original will definitely want to check it out.
VIDEO:
The 3D Blu-Ray Combo Pack of ‘Sin City: A Dame To Kill For’ includes two separate BD discs for the film. The first is a 3D Blu-Ray presentation of the film which features a full 1080p High Definition 3D presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. The second BD disc includes the standard 2D presentation of the film, once again featuring a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 1.85:1 Aspect Ratio. I myself (as usual when presented with the option) opted to watch the 3D version of the film and the 3D Blu-Ray presentation is quite impressive. The shapes, background and even the incredibly frequent fast moving sequences all looks spectacular and no notable issues could be found within on my end. The 3D effect is one of the finer 3D presentations I’ve seen this year and it really adds an additional level of fun to the overall experience. This immersive 3D presentation is definitely the best way to view the film in my opinion.
AUDIO:
Both the 3D & 2D Blu-Ray versions of the film feature a lossless 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack is incredibly active, consistently throwing everything from music, glass, along with bullets and whatever else might be present at any given moment throughout all of the available channels throughout. The clarity and detail sounds phenomenal and even with all five channels frequently flowing with pretty constant activity, the dialogue is never in any way rendered inaudible. This DTS-HD MA 5.1 track definitely gets top marks and should easily please the masses.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-Ray Combo Pack release of ‘Sin City: A Dame To Kill For’ includes some solid bonus content. The Blu-Ray release includes ‘The Movie In High-Speed Green Screen—All Green Screen Version’ which includes the film in its entirety in fast forward without the final layer, giving fans a chance to see how it looks with the green screen and it’s actually a lot of fun. Also included on the release are four video ‘Character Profiles’ which include interviews and comments with the actors portraying that character and others. Two Behind The Scenes featurette’s ‘Makeup Effects of Sin City with Greg Nicotero’ and ‘Stunts of Sin City with Jeff Dashnaw’ are also included, both of which provide an insightful look into two very important elements of brining these stories to life.
Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. It should additionally be noted that for the purpose of convenience, the images present for this specific release represent the 2D version of the film, even though the review itself covers the 3D version. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.