The Spirit

"His soul stretched tight across the skies/ That fade behind a city block . . .' T. S. Eliot, Preludes

Because writer Frank Miller knows a bit about comic books, his solo directorial debut (He co-directed Sin City with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino) is a feast of comic book campy dialog, outrageously curvaceous women, and a reborn hero, Spirit, whose abs compete very nicely, thank you, with those women's notable parts. It's all about the mythological struggle of good and evil with visual delights and a bunch of bright dialog.

Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) is a former cop, recently dead, come back as Spirit, an avenger trolling the city for the very alive bad guys, especially Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), who kills indiscriminately, especially those who dare to look at his face (As he hits Spirit over the head, he says, "Come on! Toilets are always funny!"). Mostly his plan to wipe out the city holds Spirit's attention.

Spirit's voice-over narration about the city may not be T. S. Eliot, but it has poetry about it as Spirit extols the city's feminine qualities that make it his girl. Well, that's a bit of a stretch because Spirit spends a good deal of time seducing most of the skirts he meets with a special eye for childhood sweetheart Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), now a notorious global jewel thief and implicated in murders in Spirit's own Central City:

The Spirit: "There probably isn't a law in the books that you wouldn't break." Sand Saref: "Do I look like a good girl?"

The comparisons with Sin City are inevitable but not difficult because Miller seems to be approaching Spirit as visually more stylized and plot less complicated. Even the narration and dialog are minimized and more exaggerated, but to good effect.

Spirit is one of the best movies of the year: an imaginative take on a comic book character that visually stuns and verbally amuses.

Can't ask for more than that this Oscar year.

wasn't quite sure what to expect from this one,, not being a real comic book fan I decided that I would give it a chance, second, I wasn't expecting Sin City, which by the looks of the boards most of you were. Samuel Jackson did a great job in this movie,, Gabriel Macht was wonderful as our hero, and Eva Mendez sexy as ever. our hero is in charge of doing good in the city and saving as many people as he can,, there are lot's of people who would rather not have him around Central City, especially the loathsome Octupus,, play by Samuel Jackson,, there are lot's of sexy women in the film,, good action, thrills, suspense , a lot of the good vs evil theme, I like the whole approach the movie took,, it takes you on a mythical journey to somewhere where you can only imagine,, a lot of people bash this movie because it's not like Sin City, well so what,, I didn't want it to be that movie,, this is a decent movie,, worth watching,, won't win any Oscars, but I really don't think that it was attempting to.

I love the interview with Lorenzo Semple Jnr, screenwriter for 'Flash Gordon,' when he suggests that the film would have been a big hit if only they'd been able to market it as a movie that would be a cult classic in thirty years. He goes on to explain what the core problem is: A cult film, by definition has fanatical supporters ... just not a lot of them. Those who 'get' the film will keep it alive forever, but Joe Moviegoer won't care if he ever sees it again. And so I turn to 'The Spirit,' a film which has similar qualities to 'Flash Gordon': bad enough to be awesome, tongue firmly in it's cheek and gentle satire in it's hand.

'The Spirit' manages to be wondrous and infuriating. A visual feast, Frank Miller was the perfect choice to bring the film to life. On the other hand, the dialogue is often so cheesy and the characters so over the top that the movie never allows you to be lulled into that wonderful moment of forgetting that you're watching a movie. There isn't a single character in the movie who talks like a real person. They all talk like, well, comic book archetypes: gruff commissioner, megalomaniacal super villain, brilliant evil assistant, sultry femme fatales, loyal and uninteresting love interest, and on and on. Take Samuel L Jackson's character, 'The Octopus' for example. It is a character that Jackson was born to play and Sam throws every ounce of his endlessly entertaining and over the top style into the character. It works and he plays the part brilliantly because he takes ridiculous dialogue and ridiculous material and has wild amounts of fun with it. The cast, by and large, follow his lead. Scarlett Johansson is hilariously withering with her acerbic barbs to The Octopus' clone lackeys, all of whom are played with deadpan wit and verve by Louis Lombardi. It is hard, in fact, not to feel some pity for Gabriel Macht who has to play Bud Abbott to a cast of rollicking, scene-chewing Lou Costellos in an over-acting competition. It all works wonderfully if you're willing to view the film as, uncharitably, being unintentionally funny or more genuinely as a gentle lampoon of comic book films by one of the great figures of the graphic novel genre.

Frank Miller takes 'The Spirit' and has great fun with it. It is quirky at times, ham-handed at times, but lovingly made. A brilliant Noirist, Miller actually has much better luck in 'The Spirit' in moments of levity. The noir angles of this film don't work unless designed as a kind of self-righteous satire. The noir feels forced and dramatic moments are mercilessly skewered by the corny dialogue that a helpless Gabriel Macht delivers with straight-laced determination. 'The Spirit' has the look of 'Sin City' and the heart of 'Flash Gordon.' When it works, it works well, but the film is a terrible mess whenever it is trying to be serious.

So is it worth the ride? I think so if you go in with the proper expectations. There's not really anything new visually if you've seen 'Sin City' or '300' -- both Miller works of course -- but that didn't make them any less interesting to me. Plenty of humour where it may or may not have been planned and the potential to be a cult classic. This is the kind of movie you can best enjoy in the company of friends and a cold six pack. Look for diamonds and you're looking for too much. And if nothing else, Eva Mendes has never looked better on film than she does here. That's got to stand for something, right?

I really wanted to like this but the main actor who played the Spirit was just plain awful. And everyone acting was dreadful, the writing is dreadful and the direction is dreadful. Maybe Frank Miller wanted that actors to Over act and over act they did BIG TIME. Sam L. Jackson is so over the top that it was painful. We were laughing at some scenes not because it was that funny, it was just that embarrassing. The first fight scene (not giving anything away), that the Octopuss had with the Spirit was force and confusing and so out of place and completely uninteresting.

This movie is STYLE over SUBSTANCE. And it's hugely disappointing from the guy that was part of The 300 and Sin City. I guess every good person have their bad movies. I think perhaps Miller wanted the characters to be cartoonish. At one point, I wouldn't have been surprised to see an anvil drop on someone's head, thats how ridiculous this movie was. Perhaps one has to be a fan of the comic book... (or graphic novel in some circle) in order to truly enjoy this. I went with three other friends and 3 out of 4 of use thought it was awful and the other person just said, "it wasn't that bad".

That voice over of the spirit was just bothersome the entire movie. I was thinking... please, for the love of god, shut him up. The Spirit's voice over is irritating like Jock itch.

Now for the other actors, Eva Mendes is as beautiful as always and at one point I heard at least 10 independent dayums go out like some said it once at the grand canyon and you got 9 echos... .DAYUM! dayum dayum dayum dayum...

The other ones didn't get to do anything, except there are moments of irritating joy in the Octopuss' creations. The Spirit gets a 4 out of 10 for not actualizing the film that it could have been. It is a pass.

I honestly thought he would treat this much-loved and admired classic with some respect. Guess I'm naive. It certainly looks gorgeous, but that's almost regrettable in a film that's otherwise so utterly, grindingly, gone-to-hell stupid. Awful performances (except by Gabriel Macht as Our Hero, who looks great with his wide earnest eyes and buff physique, and handles the lines about his love for the city with fine, tough conviction), jaw-droppingly overdone dialogue, what seems like hours of totally unnecessary comic material ...man, it's just dreadful, and a great disappointment to me. If I ever buy the DVD I'll only watch it with the sound turned off.

Poor Will Eisner must be spinning in his grave tonight.