Not nearly as good as the first one, not even close. It’s too similar in all the wrong ways, and I can see why the crowds didn’t turn up the way they did for the first one. [This sequel is a major box office disappointment.]
What Works: It’s great to see Rosario Dawson back in the leather outfits, and Mickey Rourke doing his thing as Marv the shockingly soulful enforcer. Of course, you begin to realize that 90% of the characters are the same, and most of the new cast additions are either under-used (like Joseph Gordon Levitt’s luckless character or Dennis Haysbert’s more intelligent enforcer taking over for the late Michael Clarke Duncan) or inferior (like Josh Brolin taking over for Clive Owen’s Dwight). Out of the new cast members, Eva Green makes the strongest impression but I’ve begun to grow a little bit tired of her Tim Burton-meets-femme-fatale psycho-sexual strangeness. It’s a kick to see Green keep playing (essentially) an unhinged version of Angelina Jolie, but if she has a second gear, she might want to try using it soon.
What Doesn’t: Something about this film doesn’t feelĀ enough. It’s not sexy enough, dangerous enough, funny enough, and just doesn’t really engage the way the first one did. Two of the story lines are continuations from the first film, and Josh Brolin’s more straightforward take on Dwight misses the dry wit of Clive Owen’s take on the same character. Plus, why aren’t he and Dawson’s Gale together the way they were at the end of the first film? The movie barely seems interested in the answer.
Still, the biggest problem might be that the single best storyline from the first movie (Marv’s tale) isn’t continued—-the excellent Rourke is a supporting character here but is never essential to the action—-but the worst one (Jessica Alba’s stripper revenge) is continued.
What I Would Have Done Differently: Known which characters to keep and which ones not to. Let Alba’s storyline be supporting or just have her in the background, with a beefed up role for Rourke’s Marv or even Dawson’s Gale.