Travers on the New Sin City: Not A Sequel to Kill For

Rolling Stonemovie critic Peter Travers gets a colorful upgrade in his latest installment of At the Movies, mimicking themoodyred-white-and-blackbackdrop ofSin City:A Dame to Kill For. Travers still gets a thrill out of the visual splendor conjured by co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller in this newly released sequel to the acclaimed 2005 noir-thriller. But hes less impressed with the films confusing storyline, which introduces a number of bizarre plot points and re-hashes old ideas.

Travers starts off praising the original film, calling it damn-near a landmark. It was something I had never seen before, he says. But the sequel isnt exactly a flick to kill for: You meet an old love again you felt so much about once, and you see him and her again and say, What happened? And that was the feeling I got from this. There was a lot of stuff moving in ways I didnt understand.

Travers cantdeny his love for the films visual style (now upgraded to 3D), and he adds that hes always happy to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Eva Green, who makes her debut in the franchise. Ultimately, though, Travers finds the sequel lazy, and hes put off by its confusing narrative (including Brolin taking over the role ofDwight McCarthy, previouslyplayed by Clive Owen).

I think what youre going to do when you see this movie is say, Huh? What? a lot, Travers says. And thats not what I was looking for. I was looking to get lost in another world, and I just got lost.