When Sin City opened in 2005, the film was a critical and global box office success. Breaking new ground, the movie was filmed entirely on green screen and brought Miller's black-and-white graphic novels to life. Rife with strong women, flawed heroes and vile villains, fans immediately asked for a sequel.
Rodriguez and Miller strongly agreed if they did a follow-up, it had to take on an even bolder appearance than that of the first film. Having popularised 3D filmmaking with Spy Kids 3D: Game Over, Rodriguez knew the world of Sin City would come to life in a whole new way by using the technique.
Though some 3D films can leave movie-goers overwhelmed, Rodriguez believed bringing the Sin City universe into 3D would do just the opposite, recalling: "I always thought if any movie could lend itself to 3D, it would be the 'Sin City' books because of the graphic novel quality." Rodriguez felt the film's signature black-and-white aesthetic would actually enhance the 3D experience, adding "with the 3D, you feel like you are inside a graphic novel".
Some of the stories in A Dame To Kill For are prequels to the narratives from the first movie. Characters killed in Sin City, like Marv (Mickey Rourke), Goldie (Jaime King), and Hartigan (Bruce Willis), return in this instalment. Explaining his timeline, Miller says: "I tend to play around in the Sin City books as I am in the movies now - I bounce from one point in time to another so characters can seem to come back to life when actually, all I've done is go back in time." Both Rodriguez and Miller agreed on critical- and fan favourite A Dame To Kill as the central story. Not only does it reunite favourite characters, but it also introduces one of Sin City's most evil creatures: the beautiful and deadly Ava Lord (Eva Green).
Chronologically, it takes place prior to The Big Fat Kill (featured in the first film) and explains how Dwight McCarthy (Josh Brolin) came to have a dramatically different face.
Miller comments: "Built around a tragic romance between a man and the love of his life, it's a story that involves a lot of betrayal, a lot of darkness and a lot of guilt - all the great stuff that goes into film noir. It's a story that I'm very proud of and Robert is very fond of."
Having faithfully followed the books in Sin City, Rodriguez and Miller chose to incorporate new stories into the second film. Rodriquez explains: "The first movie was all about being very true to the books and translating them directly to the screen. The second film we thought: 'Let's give them a surprise so that people can't just go to the comic book store, buy the book and know what's going to happen.'"
One of the new stories, The Long, Bad Night, features a young, cocky gambler named Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). He returns to Sin City to try his luck at poker, playing against the town's most powerful and nefarious politician, Senator Roark (Powers Boothe).
The second new narrative, Nancy's Last Dance, follows That Yellow Bastard, the story of exotic dancer Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba) and her relationship with the cop and her personal saviour, John Hartigan (Bruce Willis).
The sequel occurs four years after Hartigan commits suicide to save Nancy. Still dancing at Kadie's, she is a shell of her once-carefree self and desperate to get revenge on the man she blames for Hartigan's death. Unable to continue watching her spiral out of control, Marv offers his services.
Rodriguez was insistent on shooting the film in 3D rather than converting it in post-production. Having shot with the Alexa camera on previous films, he understood all its possibilities and used the Pace 3D system with it.
The entire film was shot against green screen with very few set pieces. As in the first movie, the virtual Sin City world is all digital. However, advancements in technology allowed Rodriguez to achieve a look even closer to that of Miller's illustrations. Miller's graphic novels served as the storyboard reference for the VFX artists.
The film's VFX producer, Crys Forsyth-Smith comments: "Robert wanted to push the graphic elements more this time. The 3D further brings viewers into the Sin City world." VFX house Prime Focus handled the majority of the VFX and 3D, with just under 2300 VFX shots in the film.
In addition to the gorgeous, buxom women Frank Miller is famous for drawing, the Sin City universe is filled with men who have been disfigured during their years in Sin City. In the first film, audiences were shocked by That Yellow Bastard's deformed body, the gun muzzle lodged in Jackie 17 Boy's forehead, and Marv's primeval-shaped head. Those looks were perfected by long-time Rodriguez collaborator Greg Nicotero of KNB EFX.
During this film, Nicotero aimed to cut down the time it took to apply the Marv prosthetics to Mickey Rourke. Nicotero recalls: "We recreated the prosthetic and streamlined the application process. I brought in my right hand, Gino Cragnole, who worked on the first film with me to co-apply Mickey's prosthetics. We'd become friends with Mickey on the first film and had a great time on this one too."
Miller remarks on KNB's incredible work: "Greg Nicotero is able to look at my drawings and interpret them in three dimensions, which isn't the easiest thing to do because a cartoonist can get away with lying a lot. I can make a character's profile a mass in front of his face and no one yells at me, but Greg has to make all things with work from both angles."
The Make-up and Hair Department Head, Ermahn Ospina, has been working with Rodriguez since Desperado. For almost 20 years, Ospina has created the make-up looks for the sexy and powerful women in those films, including the first Sin City.
Ospina comments: "Working on green screen, and now with the 3D, the more specific challenge this time has been the 3D, based upon the information we get from the new cameras and the new technology. You can read so much on someone's face. I have to be careful because I want the characters to look real despite the fact that you are seeing fiction and the women, especially, I don't want them to look like they are wearing make-up, which is ironic."
Fasten your seat belts for Sin City: A Dame To Kill For; in a town where justice doesn't prevail, the desperate want vengeance and ruthless murderers find themselves with vigilantes on their heels, their paths crossing in Sin City's famous Kadie's Club Pecos.
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