The Spirit (2008) User Reviews

A flawed but fun-filled romp.

[A_Roode · 6/10 · 20 December 2008]

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?

decent film

[kairingler · 6/10 · 11 July 2013]

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 really WANTED to like this... But...

[cafesmitty · 4/10 · 1 January 2009]

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.

Disappointing

[rainbowlightbrite · 3/10 · 26 December 2008]

I was very excited about The Spirit because I am a big fan of Sin City and was looking forward to see Frank Miller in action again. Also, the cast seemed to be a great lineup. However, it doesn't matter how good the actors are if the plot and script are lame, and I am here to tell you -- I don't even think the likes of Anthony Hopkins and Meryl Streep could have saved The Spirit for this reason.

I kept waiting for the story to intrigue me and for the characters to develop. I watched a couple of people walk out of the theater about an hour through... Finally, I checked the time (never a good sign when you're watching a movie), only to discover that the movie was nearly over, and there would be no chance for redemption.

Aesthetically, The Spirit was interesting, but I couldn't help feeling like I'd seen it all before. The cinematography and graphics were pretty much a carbon copy of Sin City. I expected to see similarity (Frank Miller's style is distinct, after all), but not identical visual imagery.

Bottom line, I rarely see movies in the theater because it's expensive! For three people, we spent over $50 in downtown Seattle for this experience, and it was so disappointing. I hate to waste that much money on such a poorly written, boring movie. My recommendation is to skip The Spirit altogether (really, the plot and script are that bad). But if you're really curious, save your money and rent it when it comes out on DVD.

A real review from someone who saw it - no spoilers - just my opinion

[crimsonica · 3/10 · 21 December 2008]

I must say that I was somewhat excited when my friend told me she got us tickets to the premiere of "The Spirit", especially since I've never been to a real premiere. It was an entertaining experience, all except for when the film was rolling.

I liked Sin City a lot, and I thought 300 was intriguingly well made and quite entertaining. Let's just say that compared to 300, "The Spirit" entertains more like Howard the Duck. The entire film seems like a total farce, an unfortunate mockery of Miller's unique style himself. It has been a very long time since I've seen a film with such little (to no) heart, and hardly any soul. I must say that Sarah Paulson gave the greatest performance by far of anyone else, as the Spirit's unconventional doctor. She is the sole source of any feeling or depth in the film. Macht was also at his best in the lead role when sharing scenes with Paulson, otherwise, he barely filled the part. I don't know if that was his fault however, given that the character himself was depicted with very little depth overall. I never read the graphic novel, but I'm going to go ahead and guess that this doesn't do it justice. How can I say that? Because novels build key characters into "people" that you care about, whether you hate them or love them, the characters stimulate your mind on some level or another. This is far from the case in this film. There is very poor development of the characters, which the majority of potential watchers are unfamiliar with. Sam Jackson has unfortunately chosen another terrible role, as the non-intriguing villain, the Octopus. Jackson however does give us some of his crazy wild eyed antics that we've grown to accustomed to, although his character falls flat for the most part, especially considering his opposite on the screen, Scarlett Johansen. It almost seems as if Miller was asleep on the set when her scenes were shot. She's THAT bad in this film, with a deeply sub par android-like performance. Eva Mendes did what she could to somewhat save the film from being a complete and total joke, although it's pretty close to being just that. She plays the bling digging female lead opposite Macht. Now quite possibly the most annoying character(s) ever portrayed on film are the Octopus's cloned henchmen, which were frighteningly reminiscent in annoyance levels of.......... dare i say it... Jar Jar Binks. My four year old nephew would surely find some entertainment value there.

This film ultimately succumbs to its poor writing and direction, which are almost cleverly masked by the signature visual style of Miller, which is hypnotizing at times. Unfortunately, it's hardly hypnotizing enough to mask the true, soulless identity of "The Sprit".

• Crimsonica

Strong Visuals, awkward script....half the people in the theater got up and left

[netbusterss · 3/10 · 26 December 2008]

Big fan of Sin City, big fan of 300, bigger fan of Watchmen. The Spirit was sadly a big let down for me. The visuals and art direction were amazing, strong cinematography, very "Roger Rabbity" sorta feel with the rotoscoping of some scenes, his tie, shoes, backdrops etc. The script was supposed to have this sorta old school Raymond Chandler sorta film noir sorta feel to it and it just didn't hit it.

Cheesy liners, a lot of the acting felt as if it was rushed, and some of the scenes were just very...awkward and boring to say the least. I went to a 10pm showing of it tonight and there was only about 20people in the theater. Halfway through everyone except me and my company left to "get their money back." Blah, hope Watchmen isn't as much of a let down :/ Totally not worth the 10bucks a ticket unless your a die hard DC fan and have actually read the Spirit comics, if not then its kidna not worth seeing, unless your friend has it on DVD and your high and need a good movie to pass out to.

Also does anyone else find that whenever they watch a movie with Samuel Jackson in it now, ever since Snakes on a Plane you just cant friggen take him seriously anymore? Its like every time he says a line or has some sorta goofy quote I just laugh in my head. ARG okay peace

If you like movies that make you go WTF, don't miss this one

[rooprect · 20 September 2011]

Scene: a foot with a face on it is merrily hopping around a countertop. Meanwhile a slutty nurse is talking about economic strategies of a criminal organization. Three identical idiots are watching on with titillation. The boss is hunched over the foot with great consternation, repeating "That's just damn weird."

WTF??

Who here grew up on comic books, raise your hands. The dork madly flailing in the back would be me. In order to appreciate this film it requires some familiarity with the comic book medium and its ability to take us into an utterly bizarre, senseless and oftimes brainless world. Situations are surreal. Dialogue is snippy, contrived and just a snicker away from utterly ludicrous. That's what comic books do, and this film is one of the most faithful adaptations I've seen.

Those who criticize this movie for "bad script", "bad acting", etc would have a point if we were talking about some snotty, pretentious too-cool-for-mainstream flick, but no, this is the opposite: pure fun. I mean, jeez, when the bad guy pauses in the middle of a tense battle to talk about eggs... or when he gets into a debate with one of his henchmen over the job's healthcare benefits, how can you NOT have fun?? Instead of expecting an action film, you should go into it expecting something more like "Airplane!" and I guarantee you'll have a great time & some big laughs. Like when one guy commits hara-kiri with a samurai sword and says "Am I doing this right? It sorta smarts." OMG LOL. And there's plenty more where that came from, but I won't spoil it.

Both Samuel L Jackson & Scarlett Johansson as his deadpan sidekick deliver top-notch comedic performances with pinpoint timing. Set against a wickedly incongruous backdrop of "film noir" where madcap comedy is definitely against the rules, "The Spirit" presents us with one of the greatest bipolar contrasts since "Catch-22" (the greatest deadpan action flick ever).

And just a word about contrast, I'm sure that's part of Frank Miller's intent, seeing how the film is full of biting visual contrasts. I won't even go into how masterfully he brought the comic book visuals to life; you just gotta see it.

If you like witty, tongue-in-cheek, dark comedies, then this is the film for you. A lot of action films are peppered with wit & humour, but this is one of the few that crosses into outright comedy, and it does a great job. If you like this film, keep an eye out for the Japanese flick "Cutie Honey", another great, artistic, campy romp which was misunderstood by audiences and overlooked.

If any of what I've said resonates with you, I strongly urge you to run down to your local Blockbuster where you can find this film in the $2 bargain bin, watch it & get in early on the cult following. It may be 10 years before people come to appreciate what Frank Miller did here, but you can say, "I told you so!"

The Lighter side of Sin City

[Mash-the-stampede · 7/10 · 15 January 2009]

Hahhaa! Call me crazy but I actually quite enjoyed "The Spirit" and I think that a lot of other people would too if they understood what type of film this is. This film is an action comedy, much like the popular genre in the 80's and 90's except done in a more "comic-book" style.

The biggest mistake or misconception that people make about this film is that this is NOT Sin City. Although directed by and written (for the screen) by Frank Miller, this is not based on a Frank Miller graphic novel and in no way should be compared to Sin City. I guess the confusion comes from the very similar visual style of the film but that's definitely where the similarities end. The first 10 minutes of the film make it blatantly obvious that this film is not meant to be taken too seriously with it's over the top action sequences and "comic-panel" dialogue. Just think of "The Spirit" as a visual comic book and it will make a whoooooooole lot more sense.

The hero of the film (The Spirit) was hilarious! Tough and heroic and almost indestructible except for the one weakness in his pants, as in he has a soft (or hard) spot for women......ALL women!!!! Still, I couldn't help but laugh at his awesome pick-up lines as they were delivered with such sincerity and conviction that I almost believed thoughs lines would work in real life!

Sam Jackson was brilliant as "The Octopus", an evil, eccentric and over the top villain/mad scientist! In fact come to think of it, what's not to like about this movie? It's action-packed, funny as hell and the women in this film are all beautiful!!! Eva Mendes looks the best I've ever seen her in this film and the women alone should be enough to see this movie!

I think that now days people are so used to special effects that nothing impresses us anymore and we forget the real reason why we go and see films such as "The Spirit", to escape reality for an hour and a half and to be entertained. Think about it, although this film isn't pushing any visual boundaries by todays standards think about if it came out 10 years ago i.e. pre- Sin City or Matrix...people would have been blown away!!!

I do agree that the genre of this film does only appeal to a small minority of people and for that reason a lot of more mainstream cinema goers won't get it but that's fine, it just means that this film will get a cult following of fans that DO get it and enjoy it for what it is. So if you still want to see "The Spirit" despite everything you've heard about the film and you're not a robot and actually want to have your own opinion, just turn off your brain, grab some pop corn or beer or both and leave all "Oscar-winning" expectations at the door and you should enjoy it!

The only thing I feel sorry for about this film, is poor "Muffin"!!!

Frank Miller Does It Again

[Knuckle · 2/10 · 28 December 2008]

No really. He takes a property that is fun and clever and entertaining, spews his well-worn brand of "dark and gritty" all over it, and proceeds to waste a little over an hour and a half of your life (more if parking was a pain in the rear - as it tends to be during the holiday season).

We'll start off with what's right with this movie.

It's... um... "visually stunning?" Maybe. If you haven't seen "300" or "Sin City" or "Sky Captain" before. (Please note that while two of the three mentioned films are based on his work - there's a good reason they're watchable. You guessed it - he didn't write and/or direct them) And that's about it.

The acting was phoned in - it takes a great director to wring a great performance from actors who are given laughably bad, pseudo-noir lines to puke out and guess what? Frank Miller isn't a great director. He isn't even mediocre. He's just plain bad.

So, what possessed the studio to gamble several millions of dollars when Robocop 2 and 3 should have been all the proof they need that one shouldn't waste more than the cover price of a comic book on this man's dubious talents? I'd like to think it was drugs instead of just plain stupidity, but I somehow doubt it.

There's several good reasons why they waited until Will Eisner was dead before making this. Do yourself a favor, take my word for it, and don't waste your time and money finding out what those reasons are for yourself.

Gabriel Macht (Suits) earns his Super Hero cred

[tronyfree · 6/10 · 7 April 2016]

Decided to re-watch The Spirit after having binge watched the TV series Suits which stars Gabriel Macht as well as others.I wanted to see some of Macht's earlier work since he comes off so commanding and charismatic in Suits.He makes a compelling Super Hero despite the flawed script and direction, this is after all Frank Miller directing.Despite that Gabriel's efforts radiate more charm in view of his future role in Suits.Eva Mendes, not used enough, has a thankless role as eye candy Sand Serif, but even that is worth a look.Some other major attractions like Stana Katic as Officer Morgenstern has a kick-ass appeal since she will go on to play Kate Beckett opposite Nathan Fillion (Firefly) in Castle.As many reviewers have commented, the imagery is striking, not withstanding the script and plot.I think it's worth more than the 4.8 it's rated at,and it's a revelation to look back and see an early performance of Gabriel Macht.He would make a great Superman.Don't go in expecting too much, it's a visual comic book. Samuel Jackson's over the top performance might make some a bit leery, again, it's just a visual comic book that hasn't been taken to the next creative level.

One last observation,is it just me or does Frank Miller have a thing about people blowing their own brains out?

Lionsgate and Frank Miller are officially on Santa's naughty list with this Xmas disaster film

[Skon · 1/10 · 23 December 2008]

The Spirit is a film with few virtues. There's a fingerful but that's it.

Gabriel Macht delivers a certain charisma in the titular role as Will Eisner's classic middle-class superhero. This is his first time carrying a movie and had the focus been shifted more on him, his antics and his conflicts it would have been a better film. We witness some lovely moments when The Spirit talks about the love he has for his city, echoing something at the very heart of the superhero mythos. One scene has him even using the city as a shield, a weapon and a guide in his role as its guardian. These are poignant moments that evoke that somewhere underneath all the terribleness there might have been a spark of a good film here.

That's where all the virtues end.

People will probably gravitate to the cinematography of Bill Pope which does its best to marry Frank Miller's Sin City with the pulp comics of The Spirit's origins. But as pretty as the cinematography does look here and there, most of it is too busy, too dark and too careless. As a film that tries to show the protagonist's relationship with his city the cinematography should have created a sense of being in a vast metropolis. Instead the visuals feel completely green-screened and the effect is that the film ends up looking like it was shot on a stage instead of in a wide open city. There is also something that feels unfinished about the green-screening process as though some more work needed to be done and as such the film has the look of the cut scenes out of late 90's full motion video games with the characters standing out from rendered CGI effects like sore thumbs.

This is Frank Miller's first time out as a solo director. He is credited with co-directing Sin City and after seeing this film one realizes that Miller had very little to do with the physical directing on that film. It's sad to see one of the greatest comic book creators of all time helpless in trying to do justice to Will Eisner's creations. Miller even casts himself as a police officer whose head gets ripped off and used as a blunt weapon in the film's opening. One wonders if that was CGI or if the lack of any thinking going into this film can be blamed on Miller's headlessness. Either way it's an apt metaphor for a project that steams forward without any direction.

The film is a mess of tones and genres. Scenes tend to go on forever without anywhere to go in the first place. There's an overuse of flashbacks. And most of the dialogue is delivered in soliloquy (including a scene where The Spirit talks to a cat for 5 minutes). There are no subtleties in delivery, pacing or acting. Everything is blunt, harsh and cold. The audience knows everything in the first 15 minutes and it takes the rest of the characters an hour to catch up. It's frustrating, busy and excruciating to watch. Even attempts at humor fall flat. A running joke with 24's Louis Lombardi is amateur in its rendition.

The acting is where Miller's lack of film-making chops shows most prominently. Sam Jackson plays the Octopus, a villain whose face was never shown in Eisner's comics and rightfully so. Jackson is fresh off of a plane full of snakes and still acting like it. He plays the same tough character he always plays - shooting off big guns while shooting off his even bigger mouth. It's beginning to get boring and he needs to seek out more parts that explore his range. In order to make up for having no character depth or any credibility as a villain, Jackson and his henchwoman, played by the vastly overrated Scarlett Johansson, go through more costume changes than a Vegas strip show. Jackson goes from dressing like a pimp to a mutton-chopped samurai and even (I can't make this up) a monocled goose-stepping heil-hitlering Nazi in an offensive scene that seems like a bad pun on the classic Patton.

Further to the acting, there is a bevy of female characters that clutter this film in an attempt to create some element of pulp sex drama. Johansson's Silken Floss is just money thrown down the drain as she brings nothing to the movie. I've never understood her appeal and this film is perhaps best proof of her need to hire an acting coach. The Morgenstern character is a time-waster and eats up screen time lecturing the audience on the Electra principle (Miller you created a character named Elektra, you have a fascination with it, we get it, but it has no place in this film). To believe her character we'd have to believe that a rookie cop would be the only one to notice a gigantic clue two days after a crime scene has been cleared. Sarah Paulson and Eva Mendes, both in terribly written roles, try the hardest and as an audience member I appreciated that.

The free screening I attended last night had a number of rows oddly empty from the get go. And within 10 minutes about twenty people had already gotten up and left. The rest of us stayed because it was cold outside and perhaps hoping that things would only get better. They didn't. After the film we had a unique experience where audience members cultivated together, like strangers at a traffic accident, to criticize the film. People were upset over a film that failed in every possible way a film can fail and yet the advertising campaign paints it as a brilliant, exciting holiday adventure. I assure you it's not.

Lionsgate this is a train wreck. If this is your idea of giving your audience a holiday present honestly shame on you.

A comic book movie ridiculous? don't be ridiculous....

[tully-ian · 10/10 · 15 June 2009]

This movie faces a storm of bad reviews from people who expected a second sin city. in stylization and direction, it was, but with one key difference. it was just as absurdly over the top and ridiculously unbelievable as every other comic book to movie i have seen, except this movie had the guts to knowledge exactly how plain stupid it was.

This movie is a farce. straight and true. Frank Miller is basically poking fun at his work on Sin City, and the viewer must understand that everything about this movie is over the top. if your looking for a second Shawshank Redemption, something based off a comic is not the best place to look. however if you watch this movie merely to be entertained and laugh you ass off, this is a good movie to choose.

In the end, you have to watch this movie wanting and willing to be entertained, and not like Siskel and Ebert. get some friends, rent this movie, make some popcorn, have a good time. but for gods sake don't take this movie any more seriously than it does itself.

Too many people went into this wanting Sin City 2.0.

[frankblack-79961 · 7/10 · 28 March 2021]

Sin City this is not. So if you want to see another movie like that then avoid. If you like Frank Millers style then you shouldn't be disappointed. To me it felt like one of the old Humphrey Bogart detective films with a modern Frank Miller makeover. If you never saw those old B&W films, the charms of this will be lost on you. Not mega action but some good humor and over the top characters. If you try to compare it with Sin City you will be disappointed.

I can't imagine what Frank Miller was thinking

[angelynx-2 · 4/10 · 25 December 2008]

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.

A Dark and Compelling Crime Story

[alexman774 · 24 August 2011]

This movie is amazing. everything about it from the visuals to the acting to the storyline it is all just amazing. Do not listen to anyone who says this is bad it is amazing. This is definitely one of the best movies of all time. Go out and by this movie today. It's only like 10 bucks now. AND IT IS WORTH IT. GO FRANK MILLER!!!!!! By the end of the film you love the characters and if anyone tells you otherwise just ignore them and say you are wrong. wrong. wrong. wrong. wrong. wrong. No matter how busy you are just go see this movie NOW! it is very very very cool and fun. It is so good that even people that hate these kind of movie love it. Go see it today!

An incredibly long and winded self-indulgent un-movie!

[burtsimpson555 · 2/10 · 19 December 2008]

I saw the Spirit at a special advanced screening in Montreal yesterday evening... Wow! what a bore-fest! Granted, Frank Miller's style still makes for beautiful imagery, but Holy God, the man doesn't know the first thing about about the cinematic language! Some scenes go on like, what seems, forever! One scene in particular where the Spirit finds himself tied to a dentist chair while the Octopus and his sidekick Dental Floss, or whatever the name of Scarlet Johansson's character is, talk and talk and talk for... at least twenty minutes! I'm kidding you not! See for yourself when it opens.

There is no sense whatsoever of pacing or rhythm, scenes start abruptly and close for no reason, without ever building or leading to something else... The movie (or un-movie as I like to call it) is more like a collage of beautiful images. There is no real story, no real danger, no characters real enough to connect to.

I'd like to tell you to skip it, but you'll have to see it for yourself to believe how bad it is!...

I have a city as my weapon The Spirit

[jaredmobarak · 5/10 · 20 December 2008]

There is a lot to like about Frank Miller's debut as a solo director. The Spirit is shot with a similar style as his last film, Sin City, based upon his own graphic novels, and the imagery is quite stunning at times. I'm not familiar with Will Eisner's series for which the film is based, but after viewing scenes in stark black and white, with the bright red tie and blindingly white sneaker soles, coupled with the end credits artwork, I have to believe Miller did his best to bring those drawings to the big screen. The story too is intriguing, showing a superhero that works directly with the police; he is his own branch of the department, known by all and brought into cases like a detective. It's a refreshing take on the whole vigilante stigma that will be explained once his origins are relayed. However, while there is a lot to like, there is a lot more that will just make you shake your head in disappointment.

I've been told that the comic is very pulpy and hard-boiled with shades of camp and I hope that is true because the film goes overboard in all of those categories. I enjoy a little humor and some fun, but when it's inside of a film that is shot so darkly, so seriously, the juxtaposition becomes forced. There are plenty of good one-liners and the quick dialogue and rat-a-tat banter can be exciting, but mostly it is just plain laughable. What is The Octopus's fascination with eggs? He does not like egg on his face, he hates those brown eggs that come from chickens, and one of his henchmen is named "Huevos". Maybe I'm missing something there by not having read the comic; it just went way too long. Even the fight scene at the beginning between he the villain and The Spirit's hero works only in moderation. You become intrigued by the fact neither can be hurt, they heal from every wound, and The Octopus's cryptic talk about how they are two men uniquely alike makes you beg the question of what happened to them. However, the fight keeps going for ten more minutes—they bludgeon each other over and over again until they just decide to stop. I won't even go into their horridly ominous declarations of how they will meet again, "real soon", or how they'll kill the other "all kinds of dead". They just trade empty threats like that and go their separate ways … it's all kind of surreal actually and no, toilets are not always funny.

The film is really just an exercise in excess and how, unless one is experienced enough to handle that much material, it will all fall apart as a result. As far as pacing goes, the story becomes disjointed with abrupt interludes, (a short scene between the police commissioner and his doctor daughter that really goes nowhere except to explain Denny's relationship with Ellen) and all those somewhat stupid vignettes with Lotelei, the angel of death, and overlong exposition. Trying to go full-bore into style hurts scenes by making them too intricate and overblown. The obligatory bad guy telling the good guy his plan because the good guy is about to die scene lasted an eternity. Miller attempts to wow us with his sharp angles and quick cuts to close-ups dragging this Nazi-themed exchange out forever. Paz Vega is brought in for eye-candy and a necessary allegiance reversal before she is gone from the film again; The Spirit's quips serve only to make The Octopus talk even longer, and being played by the master of bombast and extreme Samuel L. Jackson, talk he will; Scarlett Johansson's speech does much the same in her matter-of-fact, emotionless delivery for the entire film; and the henchmen, (I like Louis Lombardi and the schtick is funny the first couple times), get overused, killing the joke before it even became cute. You watch the scene waiting for our hero to escape; you know he will, you just hope you don't have to be bored so much waiting for the inevitable.

As far as the acting goes, besides characters being mishandled script-wise, all involved do an admirable job. It appears that they are all having fun in their hard-boiled way, hamming it up to the camera with broad facial expressions and over-the-top speech patterns. I'd be interested to see what a guy like Rian Johnson could have done with this, someone who showed a sense of rhythm and timing in his stylized speech with Brick, someone who has a better understanding of pace than Miller perhaps.

With that said, I really liked Gabriel Macht as our lead, The Spirit. A relative no-name, this guy must carry the film on his shoulders, and I think he did the job well. There was always a sly smile on his face whether getting beat-up on the verge of death or flirting with the multitude of sexy women. He had the tone right and made it fun, even getting the deep raspy narration correct for the many "voice of God" moments as he explains what is happening. And since I mentioned the sexy women, there were some effective parts and some not so much. Eva Mendes was on the right page as well as Stana Katic, probably my favorite part of the movie as Morgenstern. She steals every scene she is in with her street cop accent and genuine sparkle in her eye with every compliment. Johansson and Vega, though, were purely eye-candy, giving some stilted performances. But I blame Miller for that, possibly being unsure how to direct them to get what he needed. Being coy and confident in your delivery is one thing, looking bored is a complete other.

How could this movie be worse?

[eliotmiller · 1/10 · 19 April 2009]

I have been a Frank Miller fan since I was 11 yrs old reading Ronin. Loved Sin City ( the movie and the comic books ), 300, etc etc. So what happened that was so bad that I registered with IMDb to write this review? To begin, the minimalistic green screen style was fun for Sin City, but it just became pointless and tired. The acting?? It was brutally obvious that these actors were acting alone in green screen land. No inspiration, no passion, nothing but emptiness. I am 39 years old, I have been a reader of comic books since I was 8. How the hell did these characters make it to the big screen? "The Spirit" is a stupid character. With stories like "The Sandman" and "The Preacher" yet to be made, this was a big waste! I just wanted to put a warning out there, this movie will make you want to stick a shiv in your own neck.

A better experience if you know what to expect.

[xamtaro · 7/10 · 19 August 2009]

(Before i start commenting on this, let me just say that whoever came up with the trailers and the promotional material for this movie ought to be smacked over the head with a toilet bowl. This movie was advertised like "Sin City 1.5 meets Batman Begins" when it was NOTHING AT ALL like Sin city or Batman. )

If someone told me that FRANK MILLER was to be making a movie based on another's comic, the last thing i would expect is a strict faithfulness to the original. If there is one thing Frank Miller is famous for, it is taking something and recreating it to such an extent that defies public perception with little regard for the resulting backlash.

Take Batman. In an age where Batman was still campy and fun, he created "Dark Knight Returns" in which Batman was a bitter, obsessed senior citizen living in a hard edged world where corruption, crime and mutants run amok; effectively hurling a proverbial "Miller-pie" into the faces the campy batman, the creators of the campy comics and the fans.

For the Spirit he did the same and ended up creating not just a complete re-imaging but an over-the-top fun ride of a movie.

The Spirit is a breath of fresh air in an age where superhero movies strive to be more and more "serious" and "down to earth". This highly stylized movie wholeheartedly embraces the definition of the word "comic"(which means "amusing" or "funny")and revels in poking fun at not just comic books in general, but a wide variety of genre. It is to superhero movies like what Austin Powers is to James Bond movies.

The Spirit comic book by Will Eisner was a product of the 1940s that continued into the 1950s where it ended. In a stroke of twisted genius, Frank Miller takes every chance to hurl "Miller-pies" at every other film genre that was famous during the Spirit's heyday of the 1940s and 50s. Mystery stories, film noir cop dramas, slap stick comedy like "3 stooges, romantic melodramas, ", world war 2 propaganda, cartoons etc. Even Akira Kurosawa's Samurai films and Japanese anime are not spared the satire. Where the comic was a product of its time, this movie is a clever, cheeky amalgam of every other product of that time.

At every turn, this movie defies expectations. For 10 minutes it is a gritty detective story, the next 15 minutes lapses into a tragic melodramatic romance straight out of some soap opera which is followed by the next 10 minutes of the one of the funniest fight scenes reminiscent of some of the best fights between Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd of Looney Toons fame.

Originally i found this to be slightly disjointed a style. That was before i actually read the original Will Eisner comic reprinted by DC. Every 8 pages saw a totally new Spirit story. Like the movie, the original comic seemed just as disjointed. For example you can get 8 pages of the Spirit foiling a terrorist threat followed by 8 pages of his very racist-ly portrayed friend "Ebony White" starting a matchmaking service with some hilarious results, then another 8 pages about some freak-of-nature creature hunting the Spirit. The stories are just THAT RANDOM in the original comic. Can we expect any less randomness from a movie based on that comic?

Even the acting, which many people claimed was "souless" and "machine-like", was no worse than those cheap black and white soap operas. The acting, along with so many other aspects of the film, is also a jibe at the acting in movies of the 1940s and 50s.

Gabriel Macht's Spirt is a perfect opposite of Samuel L Jackson's villain role as The Octopus. I get the feeling the Macht's wooden acting of his role was deliberately done to provide an ever clearer "black and white" separation of the hero and villain. Speaking of the Octopus, Samuel L Jackson hams it up to the max and plays his role with all the gusto of some of the best cartoon villains ever. I could be entertained just by watching only the scenes featuring the Octopus. He is that good and his every line had me trying to stifle what would have otherwise been roaring laughter. The over the top comedy was helped along by Louis Lombardi's "-os"(Logos, pathos, sos, adios etc) named clone henchmen giving the 3 stooges a run for their money.

A few flaws fly about here and there. The first would be Frank Miller's directing style and usage of the camera. He works a camera like how he draws a comic panel. It just cuts from scene to scene like how the eye would move from panel to panel. Very bland and uninteresting. The next would be the production design and the look of this film. So many people have praised the digital backgrounds and the dark stylized atmosphere. Is there anyone else besides me who felt that Frank Miller was just being extremely lazy and basically re-used what he learned from Robert Rodriguez's digital set designs on Sin city and did not bother to come up with something that was his own? Personally i felt that this film would have benefited from a more lighthearted look to go with its "feel". Something more like the Wachowski brothers' Speed Racer.

The Spirit is not a film that people would be impressed by, neither is it one that has mass appeal. And thanks to the very misleading promotional material, people who watch this thinking that it was the next Sin City or 300 or Dark Knight would be sorely disappointed. However i can see "The Spirit" becoming a cult classic maybe 10 years down the road, readily sought after by curious fanboys.

All of the style of Sin City, but none of the soul

[STFU_Donny · 3/10 · 26 December 2008]

Sin City, it ain't. I saw this with people who said they liked it (they may or may not have been drinking), and that was accompanied by the disclaimer "... so bad, it's good." Just because it can be funny to watch something fail in it's own ineptness doesn't necessarily make it good.

The plot (MINOR SPOILERS): A cop (Gabriel Macht) comes back from beyond the grave as The (womanizing) Spirit. Due to a mix-up, his voluptuous childhood ex-girlfriend, Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), and the mysterious, make-up wearing Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) wind up with wrong trunks. The trunk that The Octopus wants contains the blood of Heracles (because it will turn him into a God), and the trunk that Sand Saref wants contains Jason's Golden Fleece (because (and I am not making this up, this is the given reason in the movie) it's shiny). The Spirit is running around, trying to figure out what is going on, and seducing women as he goes along. (/MINOR SPOILERS)

Everything comes back to Frank Miller, the director, and that's just where the problem lies. He's really not a director; he's a visual stylist. He has a terrible sense of timing, from line delivery to the puns of poorly written jokes. The performances he yields from his actors makes this arguably the most overacted movie of the year... Come to think of it, this is also probably the most sexist movie of the year, with women being easily manipulated on the drop of a dime and only being interested in lavish, material things, never mind the fact that they are just being used for eye candy. The only thing this movie really has going for it is that is breathtaking to look at in parts.

Has this year's biggest WTF moment when Samuel L. Jackson comes out dressed like a Nazi for no apparent reason.

I enjoyed it

[davek28 · 7/10 · 27 December 2014]

It's not that I feel especially motivated to write a review about this film, I just feel that all the negative reviews fail to take into account people like me who know little of the genre or comics books and have no desire to compare it to Sin City (which I have seen).

I watched The Spirit on TV recently and I enjoyed it! There, I've said it. I thought it was stylish throughout. It had lots of tongue-in-cheek self-deprecating one-liners which I actually laughed at. I really didn't have a problem with the plot. After all, the plot doesn't actually have to make sense. Plus it had several foxy actresses (female actors) camping it up for all they were worth! As was Sam L, for that matter.

It might not bear a second viewing, but I'd be happy to take another run at it if I happen across it again.

It was fun and good to look at and entertaining. I enjoyed it! Seven out of ten.

A Trainwreck and a Travesty

[moonmonday · 1/10 · 3 April 2009]

As an informed analyst of sequential art, which includes comics, I would be very remiss in my studies if I had not read at least The Spirit, of Eisner's works. However, unlike some fans, I don't insist that it is a flawless masterpiece or that only the original creator can do the story justice. There are plenty of people out there that could compose a worthy homage to this iconic and well-loved series and character.

Frank Miller is not one of them.

Barely passable as a comic creator, he is tolerable chiefly only when doing original work, not attempting to corrupt the inventions of other, better authors. This is made so palpable by the puerile, amateurish, and awkward scripting and stilted direction for the film version of the Spirit.

Part of what made the original comic so great was its beautifully-rendered panels, which evoked a kind of cinematic framing. Eisner's Spirit was very three-dimensional and tangible, it was easy to grasp, and its characters were neither oversimplified nor overcomplicated, they were merely people interacting in the situations that occurred. Miller's Spirit, on the other hand, is flat and two-dimensional, even in its blocking: many scenes have characters pacing in straight lines back and forth or tracing directly linear paths in the background, which makes it seem like a shooting gallery at a carnival and certainly does not indicate the depths of an actual three-dimensional space. It seems a step backwards, in fact, from the deep and realistic dimensions of Eisner's original, to Miller's inexplicably flattened world.

Basically this is just Sin City with the names of the Spirit characters and some vague external resemblance to them. It's clear Miller has never read a single Spirit story and has no idea who the characters are, and this is especially evident in the fact that he rips off several shots directly from covers of later magazines -- which is obviously where he stopped in his investigation of the story. Immediately we have the Spirit himself indulging in pretentious self-narrative, something he doesn't do, the Octopus showing his face openly, something he doesn't do, and Commissioner Dolan resenting the Spirit's presence, something he doesn't do. It doesn't improve from there, with each character demonstrating only the slightest of resemblances to the actual comic character.

As usual, Miller's homophobia is on full display here, and as usual, his obsession with prostitutes makes its way into not only the plot, but also the narrative, more times than really are necessary or welcome. His fixation on graphic violence is also inconsistent with the original Spirit tales, and the actions in the first ten minutes alone completely fly in the face of the source material.

The acting is atrocious as well, which is surprising considering the level of talent of most of the cast. From the first character we see, a pretentious and obnoxious embodiment of "Death", the acting is strictly bottom-of-the-barrel. Shouldn't Death be slightly jarring or imposing, and not have all the gravitas and pathos of a preschool holiday pageant? It doesn't improve at all from there, with each and every subsequent character worse than the previous. All of the actors involved in the production come off as if they were under the impression that the final filmed scene was just a casual take, and a joke at that; in several scenes, the actors involved seem to be openly and obviously intoxicated. That's fine if you're good enough to pull it off (Michael Caine in Jaws: The Revenge comes to mind as doing a surprisingly good job acting despite being clearly drunk out of his mind), but nobody in this cast is. Samuel Jackson should be good, but he's horrifyingly bad here, and it seems that after the ridiculous Snakes on a Plane, he can only give a token effort. The only actor in this who does even a passable job is Arthur the Cat, and if I were him, I'd be looking for another agent.

The flashback with the jarringly modernistic teenagers (no better actors than their elders, I might add) attempting to look "retro" shattered any last few vestiges of the setting. Miller saw fit to condense the flashback into an unnatural mass of interactions that demolished any hope of sympathy for the characters, especially with our young Denny Colt seeming more concerned that Sand Saref didn't enjoy life in poverty in their disgusting urban hole than the fact that she only just found out that her father had just been killed.

It's always breathtaking to me how needlessly overcomplicated the script was in this, when in the original it was usually just as simple as "the Spirit solves a mystery and fights some bad guys", with liberal doses of humor and some usually well-aimed social commentary. Ellen Dolan wasn't a crabby doctor (and didn't need to be), the Spirit wasn't really seriously interested in settling down with any of his femmes fatales (and didn't need to be), and the comics weren't even close to Sin City with the inane sketchy red garbage to stand out against black and white (and didn't need to be). To boot, Eisner was always head and shoulders above the man who is barely a low-rent substitute for Hugo Pratt.

While the Spirit himself doesn't fare much better in comic form, given over into the hands of talentless idiots like Mark Evanier, such a widely-exposed release as this film should have been far better. There's no excuse for the bad writing and direction, hideous acting, and terrible visuals that make up this trainwreck of a film. It's so bad it's literally laughable. Please don't spend your money on this, whether you're a fan of the Spirit or not; it's not worth it if you're a fan, and nobody else would be able to wade through the gallons of raw film sewage to pick out the few commonalities with its origin.

Hea, this is a nicely entertaining movie!

[GeorgeSickler · 8/10 · 23 September 2012]

WOW! What negative reviews. I'm an old retired guy and am not familiar with the director's other work. Nor am I familiar with this comic book character.

So, I gave The Spirit an "8" simply because I think it is entertaining, creative, good production values, tongue-in-cheek, funny, well-acted and written for what it likely is, a satire on a comic book series. I have seen a few others over the years that just don't hold a candle to it.

I caught this on TV late last night, in English with Spanish subtitles. Perhaps if I went to the theater with expectations on the director's other work, I might have a lower opinion.

But I saw it for free. And there was that babe, Eva Mendes! I wish I were 30 years younger. :-) And I didn't recognize Samuel L. Jackson as the Octopus until they ran the closing credits. He did a great job in an unconventional role for him.

So I think it's worth a shot. Give it around 20 minutes or so on TV: you can always change the channel.

As dumb and corny and goofy as this movie is, it isn't a bad picture.

[TOMNEL · 7/10 · 2 January 2009]

Normally the critics seem to make some sense on their reviews of movies, but this one is extremely underrated. Horrible critical reception and not such a great start at the box office might make people believe that this is just an awful movie, but it really isn't. It's a corny, almost spoof of superhero films, filmed in the style of Sin City, by Sin City creator Frank Miller. As long as you don't take this movie too seriously (Why would you?), this can be a very entertaining movie-going experience.

Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) was a police officer killed in the line of duty, but now he's back, but not as a cop. He's a nearly indestructible hero known as The Spirit, and he's here to protect Central City, especially from his arch-enemy, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson). The Octopus has a fiendish plan to become immortal, and with the help of the evil Silken Floss (Scarlett Johanssen), and a bunch of bumbling clones (Louis Lomabardi), he just might get his way. To round off the plot, we have a former love interest to The Spirit, Sand Saref (Eva Mendes). She is now a jewel thief, but can the Spirit put her behind bars, and can she somehow connect to the other plots in a coherent manner? Tune in to find out!

The main negative of the film was the direction. It was sometimes a cartoon, sometimes normal looking, sometimes crazy backgrounds, and it never knew what it wanted to be. Obviously this is a style that Frank Miller enjoys, but it's too inconsistent. The script was pretty lazy too, but it was more bearable during bad lines than most. The whole movie felt like a superhero spoof movie, so the corny lines were humorous.

The acting was pretty good. Gabriel Macht seemed to be doing a Michael Keaton Batman impression, and Samuel L. Jackson is always good, and he played an out there, but fun villain. Scarlett Johanssen plays a good sidekick to Samuel L. Jackson, and Louis Lombardi is the best character in the movie. He plays numerous smiling clones, and produces most of the genuine laughs. Eva Mendes gives a typical performance, and seems to be there for eye candy, but she does a decent job too.

Overall, this is one of the dumbest and goofiest movies of the year. But at the same time, this is just an entertaining near spoof of superhero movies, and is not meant to be taken seriously. How could a movie where the main protagonist's wardrobe is the exact same as the Hamburgler's be taken seriously?

My rating: *** out of ****. 95 mins. PG-13 for violence.

Muffin carried the Mule

[lucy-skye · 4/10 · 15 January 2009]

Well, it wasn't the worst film. In fact, there were some wicked moments. But they just couldn't completely carry the rest of the baggage off. Possibly the worst beginning to any action film (not any film, there is much more drivel out there than this), but how can you start an action film with no action! It was like watching a cat fight between two sloths. You knew something was going on but wanted to shout 'get your ass on with it!!' There were some great bits. The Nazi bit was well written, and acted. And the kitten moment probably kept me in the cinema for the rest of the film. I liked SLJ and Scarlett, and the occasional good one-liner meant i wasn't totally numb skulled. BUT this was supposed to be a good film. This was supposed to be an action film.

I think i just had a supermarket own brand coke, rather than the real deal.