I remember how excited I was after I saw “Sin City” in 2005. I definitely wanted more of Robert Rodriquez' slick and stylized adaptation of Frank Miller's graphic Novels. After a lot of teasing and promises of a sequel my interest slowly faded away. Now, finally (and without much noise or excitement) the sequel “Sin City: A dame to kill for” opened in theaters. Does this film surpass its predecessor or is this simply a case of too little, too late? Let's find out shall we.

This time around we get four stories that serve as both prequel and sequel. In “Just another Saturday night”, Marv (Mickey Rourke) is out for justice after a couple of rich kids burn some wino's to death. In “A dame to kill for” we see Dwight (Josh Brolin) try to save Ava Lord (Eva Green) from an abusive husband. He gets more than he bargained for as thing go from bad to worse.

We meet Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in “The long bad night”. He's a cocky young gambler that has some unfinished business with Senator Roarke (Powers Boothe). In “Nancy's last dance” we follow Nancy Callahan's (Jessica Alba) descent into darkness as she drinks away the pain of losing her love, John Hartigan (Bruce Willis). She blames Senator Roarke for all of it and is out for his blood and revenge.

Right from the beginning you get the sense that something is off with the “Sin City” sequel. It has the right look, sound and apart from a couple of necessary recasts, the right actors as well. So why didn't it sit right with me then? The stories perhaps? The ones newly written for the film are very, weak. Both “The long bad Night and “Nancy's last dance” ultimately go nowhere and fail to make an impact on any level. They build up, giving you the impression that there is an explosive end to them but both stories just fizzle out without any real resolve.

The two adapted stories fare a bit better but never reach the level of brilliance of its predecessor. The stories are just a little weaker and at times Rodriguez makes strange decisions that take you out of the movie. The film looks gorgeous though. It has a more streamlined and refined look to it. The acting is deliciously campy with a standout performance from Eva Green. Just as she pretty much saved “300: Rise of an Empire” the same could be said for this movie, albeit to a lesser extent. 

This film feels rushed, unfinished and ultimately without passion. It hits some right notes but it misses the impact and good writing that made the first film so enjoyable. Is it a bad film then? No, absolutely not. The performances are good and it looks great! It just misses that charm, that spark the first movie does have. I hope that Rodriguez is allowed to streamline and perhaps re-shoot and/or add to certain scenes and segments for the blu-ray release. Underneath all the confusion and strange directorial choices, there is a great movie waiting to bust out. For now, I can only recommend that you rent this one.