THE EVENT
The Austin Film Society (AFS, www.austinfilm.org) and The Weinstein Company joined together to host the Texas Premiere of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For this past Wednesday (20th August) at the Paramount Theater here in Austin, Texas. Writer, producer, director, and composer Robert Rodriguez was in attendance to show off his collaboration with Frank Miller and sequel to the 2005 original. The screening was followed by a Q&A and an afterparty at the Rattle Inn here in Austin where Rodriguez’s band Chingon played.
THE MOVIE
A Dame to Kill For is less a sequel and more a continuation of the original. We revisit the same stylistic film-noir setting with its mix of live action and animation. This time, 3D has been added to the mix and it works surprisingly well, probably due to the stripped down nature of the visuals. It is a really impressive cast and many do fine work, chewing Miller’s rather cheesy dialog with aplomb. Brolin, Green, Boothe, and Gordon-Levitt are standouts; but yet again Mickey Rourke steals the show. Supporting characters contribute fun little arcs too; Miho (Jamie Chung) has an impressive stint without uttering a line of dialogue in a great action sequence.
This time around it is not just a comic adaptation. Miller wrote new material intentionally for the big screen, and these segments tell a far more fleshed out tale than anything from the original. That being said, they don’t quite mesh together with the other comic-adapted parts, leaving the film a little disjointed. The writing is terribly hammy, lines are cheesy (though that’s the point here), but on occasion the film does push it a little too far. Scenes escalate into cartoonish moments punctuated with OTT violence and lingering gratuitous shots, which may be fine to some but off putting to others. It’s a little too much at times in a way that desensitizes it to you, lacking the punch the first had.
Overall, it’s more of the same; it looks prettier, but this dog has learned no new tricks. At times it feels like an excuse just to see Jessica Alba grinding in various different outfits; at others it’s a gritty and fun ride. If you liked the first you’ll leave happy, but if you didn’t then there is nothing different here to change your mind. Well, aside from the alluring talents of Eva Green, which might just be worth the price of a ticket.
THE Q&A
Rodriguez and Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith, who lent his vocal talents to the song “Skin City” for the soundtrack) engaged in a Q&A after the screening hosted by AFS Executive Director Rebecca Campbell. The take home from this was a deeper appreciation for the technical aspects of the film, how its was shot, schedules worked out with involved talent, and all brought together. The more interesting pieces of information were:
- Rodriguez requested extra storyboards from Miller just to be able to watch him draw.
- Eva Green’s scenes in a swimming pool were actually shot in a children’s paddling pool, and her “dive” was her just jumping on the spot, shot over greenscreen.
- Clive Owen was supposed to return as Dwight after his plastic surgery, but Josh Brolin did so well in the role they thought it fitting to allow him to complete the scene, which would allow them to have a backup in case Owen was unable to film. They shot the entire sequence with post-surgery Dwight in a day and a half after applying some generic prosthetics to make him resemble Owen.
- The sequel took so long due to filming commitments of the cast. They began with Jessica Alba and Mickey Rourke and over the next few months brought in everybody else as available.
- Josh Brolin never worked alongside Mickey Rourke; all their scenes were shot separately.
- In the scene with Brolin tied to a chair by the girls of old town, each actor was filmed separately and composited together.
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt filmed all his scenes in four days.
- After shooting finished Miller mentioned to Rodriguez he has ideas for a third film…
THE EVENT/AFTERPARTY
* Photo from AFS
FRANK MILLER’S SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR opens nationwide on Friday, August 22.
About Austin Film Society:
The Austin Film Society empowers our community to make, watch and love film and creative media. Through Austin Studios, which AFS opened in 2000 through a lease with the City of Austin, AFS attracts film development and production to Austin and Texas. Gala film premieres and the annual Texas Film Awards raise funds and awareness of the impact of film on economy and community. Austin Film Society is ranked among the top film centers in the country and recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and Directors Guild of America. For more information on the Austin Film Society, visit www.austinfilm.org.
