The Spirit (2008)

Rookie cop Denny Colt returns from the beyond as The Spirit, a hero whose mission is to fight against the bad forces in Central City.

Director:

Frank Miller

Writers:

Frank Miller (screenplay), Will Eisner (comic book series)

Stars:

Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jaime King	...	Lorelei
Gabriel Macht	...	Spirit
Dan Gerrity	...	Detective Sussman
Arthur the Cat	...	Self
Kimberly Cox	...	Damsel in Distress
Brian Neal Lucero	...	Thug 1 (as Brian Lucero)
David Brian Martin	...	Thug 2 (as David B. Martin)
Larry Reinhardt-Meyer	...	Officer MacReady
Frank Miller	...	Liebowitz
Eva Mendes	...	Sand Saref
Eric Balfour	...	Mahmoud
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Octopus
Louis Lombardi	...	Pathos, etc.
Scarlett Johansson	...	Silken Floss
Sarah Paulson	...	Ellen

Storyline

Down these mean streets a man must come. A hero born, murdered, and born again. When a Rookie cop named Denny Colt returns from the beyond as The Spirit, a hero whose mission is to fight against the bad forces from the shadows of Central City. The Octopus who kills anyone unfortunate enough to see his face who has other plans. He's going to wipe out the entire city. The Spirit tracks this cold hearted killer from the city's rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill the masked crusader.

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Plot Keywords:

pants falling down | female star appears nude | white rat | samurai | police commissioner | 

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Taglines:

Face my power.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Fantasy | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of stylized violence and action, some sexual content and brief nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the early 1990s, producer Michael E. Uslan and executive producers Benjamin Melniker and Steven Maier subsequently obtained the rights for a live-action film adaptation. Producer Uslan promised creator Will Eisner that he would not permit anyone who "didn't get it" to work on the project. Two ideas pitched to Uslan were to put The Spirit in a costume and to have The Spirit be a resurrected dead man who possessed supernatural powers. Screenwriter, and comic book fan, John Turman expressed interest in writing the script.

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Goofs

When young Denny leads Sand away from the scene of their fathers death, his arm is around her waist. In the subsequent shot, it is round her shoulder.

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Quotes

[On the Subject of Demi-Gods]
Silken Floss: Now the greatest of them all was Heracles.
The Octopus: And we found his ass! Well his blood anyway... he left some blood.

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Crazy Credits

In the opening credits, the title of the film is the very last thing shown. Typically, the title appears early in the credits, and "directed by" is the final credit.

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Alternate Versions

To receive a 12A cinema certificate the UK version was cut by 25 secs with edits to a woman being threatened by a knife-wielding gang, a repeated head punching, a shot of a severed finger and a shot of a man's rib cage embedded in the ground.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Superhero Movies that Bombed at the Box Office (2018)

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Soundtracks

Falling in Love Again
Performed by Christina Aguilera
Produced by Linda Perry
Written by Friedrich Hollaender and Samuel Lerner
Christina Aguilera appears courtesy of Sony/BMG Music Entertainment

User Reviews

I can't imagine what Frank Miller was thinking

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.

Details

Official Sites:

Lionsgate [United States] Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

25 December 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Will Eisner's The Spirit

Filming Locations:

New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,463,278, 28 December 2008

Gross USA:

$19,806,188

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$39,164,441

Company Credits

Production Co:

Lionsgate, Dark Lot Entertainment, MWM Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1