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:

My city screams. She is my lover. And I am her spirit.

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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

Central City is the same name of the city in which the DC Comics superhero The Flash resides.

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Goofs

The soles of The Spirit's signature Converse-style shoes switch back and forth between black and white. This is intentional and matches how Frank Miller would draw the shoes. When the bottoms are featured, they are white. Otherwise the shoes are black on black.

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Quotes

[last lines]
The Spirit: She is the love of my life. And I am her spirit.

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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 Anime Abandon: Battle Arena Toshinden (2014)

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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

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

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

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