Movie Review: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (3D)

Overall, more boring than exciting. The nine-year gap between this film and the original “Sin City” is just too much to overcome. Due to death, pregnancy and other factors, four characters were recast. Because of the length of time between the two movies, this doesn’t have too much of an impact. The  minimalistic style, violence, nudity and pulp-inspired dialog are all back. This time, they almost come off like a parody of the first film. All the groundbreaking achievement from the original have been done again by other films, in one way or another, over the last nine years. With nothing new being brought to the table, all the flaws are impossible to miss. The alternating stories, plus the mixture of prequel and sequel, make it almost impossible to keep track of who’s who and how it all ties into to first film. There a few good performances, plus some fun moments, but more often than not you lose interest in what’s going on in front of you. If you enjoyed the first “Sin City,” this is a nice little follow up; otherwise this movie will probably not win you over at all. The 3D is completely pointless, with only the opening credits making any use of it.

** out of *****

Movie Review: The Expendables 3

This film delivers what is expected of it: 80’s action-film inspired mayhem and one-liners…plus, a little bit of modern with new cast members. If you’ve seen the previous “Expendables” films, you know what to expect here. The film’s returning stars add Wesley Snipes to the roster early on for some fun action and dialog. Mel Gibson, who’s fun to watch throughout the film, surfaces as the main villain. The rest of the new characters have a harder time standing out, but UFC’s Ronda Rousey is hard to miss. Her beauty, physique and physicality are all on display here. Harrison Ford has some fun with his role, but nobody seems to be having more fun than Antonio Banderas. The story is relatively straight-forward and the climax is pretty clique, but the action and the characters keep thing interesting. There is a bit too much CGI generated chaos that is somewhat distracting, and it’s very obvious when the middle-aged stars of the film are replaced by their younger, jumping, climbing and flipping stuntmen.

*** out of *****