Sin City: A Dame to Kill For has opened in the US to an almost universal lack of interest despite an all-star cast including Jessica Alba, Jaime King, Eva Green, Mickey Rourke and Bruce Willis.

On the red carpet however, the cast did sterling work talking the movie up. Bruce Willis said: “They turned up the action and it’s a really great cast. It’s a really great story. And ‘Sin City’ is a crazy, crazy idea!”

Jessica Alba agreed, and managed to slip in a reference to her business, The Honest Company, which sells non-toxic household products: “You know I live a pretty kind of like restrained life in my day to day, I have kids and I have responsibilities and I have my company, so when I got to really go for it on this and really channel the dark side I did!”

Her BFF Rosario Dawson, who is currently linked with director Danny Boyle, wasn’t lagging behind. She also has her own uber-cool company to promote: “Working together is nice. We see how all the years have gone by and how we’ve grown as women and business women doing different things. And we can support each other not just with acting, but with everything else. Like I’m supportive of her Honest Company. She’s been really supportive of my fashion company that I’m doing out of Ghana. And like it’s just really awesome to see us as women in our thirties like doing our thing you know. I like belying the stereotype or the stigma of a woman in Hollywood.”

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is collecting variable reviews, many critics pointing out that the female characters are unpleasantly stereotyped and negative, others saying that the action is fun but other films are now doing it better. As for audiences, nine years after the release of the original Sin City, although there are still some hardcore fans out there, most are voting with their feet, walking firmly in the direction of away.

For better or for worse, Sin City: A Dame to Die For is on screens now.