3. The Story In Order Is Out Of Order
Rodriguez and Miller handicapped the first Sin City film by making it an anthology of the first, third, and fourth books with a rearrangement of the order to match the Sin City “real-time” chronology. In theory, that should be an improvement, but ultimately, the stories float too independently to cohere into a single film so that endeavor was futile. Instead, there was a detrimental effect. Although the books jumped all over the time line, the order in which Sin City yarns were published served to generate legendary characters which then go on to be far more appreciated when they cameo in other stories even if the stories cover preceding events. Wasn’t it more fun to see Marv participate in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For after seeing the carnage he caused in Sin City‘s “The Hard Goodbye?” The same was true in comic form so it was disappointing to see Dwight and Miho appear in “The Big Fat Kill” before showing new audiences what made them so badass in “A Dame to Kill For.”
Also, the stories drop references to each other but they make no sense if the things they referenced don’t appear till later or entirely in the sequel film when it appeared earlier in the books. Michael Clarke Duncan‘s Manute and Rosario Dawson‘s Gail seemed like they knew each other, but moviegoers don’t find out why until part two nine years.
2. Contradicting Chronology
While it’s true heroes and villains of Sin City seem to have remarkable gunshot survival rates, how can Duncan’s Manute get cleaved by Miho in Sin City‘s unedited Blu-ray edition if he (replaced by Dennis Haysbert) was already shot and drowned in Ava’s (Eva Green) hot tub in A Dame to Kill For? In the comic version, he was immobilized by Miho in “Dame” giving him a fair shot to return for “The Big Fat Kill.”
Also, if we’re to believe the chronology established by the first film, then Senator Roark should be dead before Marv goes on his suicide mission to kill Cardinal Roark on account of Nancy still looking pretty before her self-mutilation detailed in the sequel’s original story, “Nancy’s Last Dance,” but he couldn’t have helped her with Senator Roark afterward since “The Hard Goodbye” leads directly to Marv’s death by electrocution. Even if Rourke’s Marv did kill both Roarks (Rourke killing Roarks), then Hartigan’s suicide which allegedly happens after Marv’s death becomes unnecessary, which also couldn’t have happened because Nancy wouldn’t have been motivated to kill Senator Roark yet. Huge plot holes like this ruin a franchise for me.
1. Deadly Little Miho
Shocking no one, Miho, “deadly little Miho,” is my favorite character of the Sin City universe. Mysterious and mystifying, certainly she would not find a suitable actress to play her character, and indeed the films went 0-and-2 with Devon Aoki and Jamie Chung. To their credit, they did what they were told, but with Aoki’s pouty portrayal and Chung’s ridiculous acting-suppressing makeup and costuming, both actresses read like they were really sweet girls trying their best to pretend they were tough, as convincing as your five-year-old girl niece telling you she’s Batman. With apologies to Psylocke and Elektra, Miho is still the coolest and hottest female ninja in all of comics, and no one will ever consider the same of movie Miho.
The films were fun, and I enjoyed them. However, the Sin City films did not offer much more than the comic books but instead introduced some unforeseen disadvantages that proved detrimental to the Sin City experience. Therefore, I will always recommend the comics as the preferred medium to experience these Frank Miller tales.
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