A violent Sin City sequel gives Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller fans what they want
Nine years on from the original, the Sin City sequel delivers more politically incorrect thrills and spills
As movie sequels go, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is one of the most lusted after in recent times. The follow-up to Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's 2005 violent film noir Sin City - itself an adaptation of the first in Miller's series of graphic novels, inspired by pulp novelists Mickey Spillane and Dashiell Hammett - its gestation was all anybody ever mentioned, says Rodriguez. "Neither of us could go anywhere without somebody asking, 'When's Sin City 2 coming out?'"
Set in Miller's fictional, rain-soaked Basin City, and structured as a series of interlocking vignettes with a multitude of nefarious characters, the original Sin City hit a nerve, grossing US$158 million worldwide. "It seemed like every interview I did, that's all anyone ever wanted to talk to me about, until we made it," says Jessica Alba, who plays Nancy Callahan, the naive stripper who, in the 2005 film, was rescued by Bruce Willis' self-sacrificing cop.
What really mesmerised audiences was the way Rodriguez slavishly brought the black-and-white panels of Miller's graphic novel to life. With the director filming the actors at the Austin, Texas facilities of Troublemaker Studios (which Rodriguez co-founded with producer Elizabeth Avellan), using the green screen technique, the seedy environs of Basin City were added in post-production. The result? Like stepping into a living, breathing comic book. "It was like nothing anyone had ever seen in cinema," says Rodriguez.
While Sin City: A Dame to Kill For will inevitably lack the freshness of its predecessor (even though it's been shot in 3-D), Rodriguez knew he had to return with Miller for a second slice of lurid pulp fiction. "To have a movie that people chase you down to get a sequel for: that just doesn't happen," says the 46-year-old filmmaker.
What's more, he knows a thing or two about sequels, after making three El Mariachi films, two Machete movies and four Spy Kids adventures: "You don't get that often, which is why we knew we needed to make a sequel."