It's been nine years since Frank Miller brought his noir-thriller comic book Sin City to cinema screens in a groundbreaking movie co-directed with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. It was the first time a film looked and sounded exactly like its source graphic novel, complete with spot-colour, silhouetted action and intense violence and sex.

Joseph Gordon-LevittJoseph Gordon-Levitt in Sin City 2

Rodriguez calls these films a "translation" of the comic book rather than an adaptation, giving Miller full screenwriting credit because essentially the book is the script.

After the long wait for the sequel, and Frank Millers less-than-thrilling solo effort as a writer-director with 2008's The Spirit, expectations were fairly low for this summer's sequel Sin City: A Dame to Kill For.

More: read our review of 'Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For'

The film features three interlocking stories about violent revenge that are complicated by past romance, insistent lust, lingering grief and questions about paternity. These elements add a strikingly emotional edge to the entire movie, especially with fine performances from the show-stealing Eva Green, plus Josh Brolin, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jessica Alba.

Reviews for this sequel have been mixed: The Guardian says it "dazzles far more than any sequel should", but The New York Times calls it "a blunt instrument whose visual shadings far surpass the kill-or-be-killed storyline". Meanwhile, the audience has already given it an 80% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes (76% at the IMDb). The question is whether we'll have to wait another decade for Part 3.

More: Could 'If I Stay' beat 'Sin City 2' at the box-office?