Sin City: A Dame To Kill For

Sin City 2 is exactly what I expected. Deeply sexist, overtly racist, too long, overstyled, noir wannabe filled with MRA ideology and man-pain. A love letter to  spurned "nice guys" everywhere. While it can be enjoyable to see the stars chew the ink and snow scenery to dust, (Mickey Rourke, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Eva Green especially) it’s just not enough to distract from the deeply problematic world Frank Miller has created.

Unlike its predecessor, the sequel is very much in on the joke of how ridiculous and over the top everything in the film is. It stays away from trying to make any earnest points and is better for it; don't mistake that for good, however. This knowing wink and smile could have elevated SC2 to a campy "so bad, it's good" status, but the unfiltered misogyny and racism really hinder that hop.I'm very sure the writers and creators are aware of this and attribute the sexism to the noir films that the comics are mined from. Thus explains the attempt to be subversive via the main storyline, A Dame to Kill For.

Eva Green stars in the role of Eva a seductive, electric green eyed love from Dwight's (Josh Brolin) past. Still stung by her betrayal that ended their relationship, Dwight is reluctant to help her when she calls. His mind is quickly changed after a night of sex where she allows him to take out his rage on her by calling her every derogatory name you can imagine. Soon he is recruited to her cause of murdering her abusive husband to rescue her from a dire situation.

As the job transpires, it is revealed that Eva was using Dwight, she doesn't love him and there wasn't any abuse. She gloats that as soon as Dwight is dead she'll never have to rely on any man for her welfare. Naturally he doesn't die, but enlists the prostitutes of Old Town to help him seek revenge. In the meantime Eva seduces a cop, falsely claims she was raped (destroying all possible subversive readings) and is then blamed when said cop kills his friend for insulting her.

Eva's black chauffeur, Manute (Dennis Haysbert) is a brute protector and coconspirator who creepily sings Eva's praises as "The Goddess"; only to die by her hand.

Jamie Chung as Miho provides some of the best action scenes in the film. Miho even has a revealing back story (that of course only serves to polish the turd that is Dwight) that allows her to display an actual emotion, yet she remains the silent Asian character she has always been.

Sin City 2 looked at its predecessor and wondered, "How low can we go?"