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NOT AS ORIGINA SIN ; Sequel's fractured plot turns it into an inferior retread of first filmSIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR (18) [South Wales Echo (UK)](South Wales Echo (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) corruption and revenge are the themes in this sequel - so no change there then! violence, But while graphic artist Frank Miller is returning with Robert Rodriguez to co-direct, you can't accuse them of rushing to cash in with their ultra-stylised, neo-noir mash-up. The original Sin City appeared back in June, 2005 so, by waiting this long they can claim to be doing it out of artistic intent. For half an hour, A Dame To Kill For is mesmerising. Returning to the fold are two of macho cinema's finest - Bruce Willis as the ghostly, frazzled cop John Hartigan and Mickey Rourke as the seriously weathered Marv, protector of exotic dancer Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba). Both men have the pedigree to dominate a movie like this, but they appear - like many of the stars in The Expendables - to be on near zero- hours contracts. Powers Boothe plays the lead villain, the corrupt Senator Roarke, whom booze-fuelled Nancy would love to kill. Josh Brolin is outstanding as Dwight McCarthy who encounters old flame Ava Lord (Eva Green). And, while gambler Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) has the magical, digital dexterity of a Paul Daniels, will his luck hold? The sparse dialogue and frequent, voiced-over thoughts are concentrated like syrup, aural doses of testosterone in a film which delights in giving its female characters the chance to put the boot, the bullet and the arrows in. In a dark world captured mostly in black and white, only bright reds and the orange hair of Johnny's lucky charm, Marcie (Julia Garner) stand out. From the cars to the clothes to the chiselled faces, Sin City 2 looks the business. Shame, then, that the multi-strand plot is such an episodic minestrone. It feels like we're joining an expensive TV series somewhere in the middle of the run with returning characters meeting new ones. But ultimately Sin City 2 is just too disjointed and leaden-footed to match the heights of the first movie. LET'S BE COPS (15) HAVE you ever seen someone doing something stupid - and wished you were a traffic cop able to put the world to rights? That's the feeling underpinning this fun, escapist film about two friends who do more than just think about it. Armed with fancy dress costumes which gain them new respect from the ladies, former pro-football player Ryan O'Malley (Jake Johnson) and video game designer Justin Miller (Damon Wayans Jr) up the ante by buying a former police car off eBay. Justin knows they are in the wrong, but the chance to find out who crashed Ryan's car, hunt sadistic Russian mobster Mossi Kasic (James D'Arcy) and put into practice everything they've ever learned by watching TV cop shows presents a succession of opportunities that are just too good to resist. It's a terrific premise, made all the better by a sharpish script and decent on-screen chemistry between Wayans and Johnson. They're no match for Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the glossier Bad Boys (1995), nor Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum from the current Jump Street series, but all you have to do here is fasten your seatbelt and enjoy the ride. Though drawing interesting parallels with contemporary video game violence, Let's Be Cops has a more old fashioned feel - a traditional police academy procedural that is, quite literally, dressed in new clothes. Except that is, for a Borat-style nude wrestling scene that will bring the house down. MILLION DOLLAR ARM (PG) US SPORTS movies don't always travel well to these shores - even the Oscar-nominated Moneyball only lasted two weeks in cinemas. But the fusion of grey, corporate North America and colourful India, bathed in the glow of Disney's cameras and a soundtrack by AR Rahman, should carry this miraculous story well over the finishing line at the box office. Based on real events, sports agent JB Bernstein is played by Mad Men star Jon Hamm, with Aasif Mandvi as business partner Ash Vasudevan. Financially challenged, they need to find a major talent to refill their coffers. Alan Arkin is a grouchy baseball scout, who steps into the stifling heat of foreign climes and growls: "Get me to a hotel and don't wake me up again until someone's throwing a baseball." JB has a brainwave to bring two bowlers from India to America with the aim of securing lucrative Major League Baseball contract. Wealthy businessman Chang (Tzi Ma) finances the scheme but demands results within 12 months. Raw talents Dinesh Patel (Madhur Mittal) and Rinku Singh (Suraj Sharma) then head for JB's plush apartment in the US where the fish- out-of-water pair train under pitching coach Tom House (Bill Paxton). Hungarian Gyula Pados' (The Duchess) cinematography shines in both east and west, helping a strong ensemble cast to turn this into a watchable offshoot to Slumdog Millionaire (2008), also scored by AR Rahman. Directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl), Million Dollar Arm will have you rooting for the underdog all the way - and make you fall back in love with sports movies. Again. by DAMON SMITH (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |