The Spirit - REVIEW

Seeing as it's almost midnight, I'll forgo any sort of broad statement before moving on to the specifics. Let's just get this over with, because the more I have to think about this piece of crap, the more frustrated I'm going to become. "The Spirit" is Frank Miller's (writer of graphic novels like Sin City and 300) directorial debut, and it shows, painfully so. Neither Miller nor his editing team seem to have any sense of how to pace of film, giving this adaptation of Will Eisner's comic series a shapeless, almost incoherent plot. Story threads and characters seem more like rejected ideas, as opposed to fleshed out, rounded ideas (ie: well, this character would be kind of cool, and here's a few interesting traits...and...oops, that won't work - these are the sorts of things that make up the ENTIRE DAMN MOVIE). Wasting a good (if not great) cast is perhaps Miller's greatest crime; there are brief, split-second moments where we can see a character's (and therefore, actor's) potential, but then it fades, and the actors suddenly seem bored, as though they just showed up for the damn paycheck. Gabriel Macht as the Spirit seems like he could have pulled off the mix of noir-ish detective/comedic womanizer that the Spirit is, but he's undermined by the inept script, which forces him to spend a lot of time boring us to death with a completely uninteresting (and repetitive) inner monologue. Eva Mendes seems to be trying as hard as she can to be the sexy-bad-but-sort-of-good-girl, but again, the script sabotages a role that should have been a cakewalk for her. Scarlett Johannson shows some of those split second glimpses of "getting it right" as the dry, sarcastic assistant to the villain, but mostly she just sounds bored out of her mind. And of course, there's the Octopus, played by good 'ole Samuel L. Motherf**kin' Jackson. Whether it's Jackson's own bizarre acting style or the damn script again, this has to be one of the most mystifying, over the top, bat-sh*t-insane performances of this, or any decade. Though occaisionally it works for some of the off-beat (intentional) comedy (a scene where the Octopus stares at a creepy creation of his own), it often seems way out of place, as though Jackson is pushing beyond noir-tongue-in-cheek, and going all the way into self-parody territory. Take this "priceless" exchange for example:

Octopus: *sneaks up behind the Spirit during a fight*

The Spirit: *looks around*

Octopus: *emerges from behind holding...a toilet. Yes. A toilet.*

The Spirit: ar-

*WHAM!!*

The Spirit: *in pain*  oooooooohhooo....

Octopus: What's the matter Spirit? TOILETS ARE ALWAYS FUNNY!!!!

No, I'm not making this up. And this is only within the first 15 minutes of the movie, which plods along almost aimlessly for 1 hour and 45 minutes. However, it's not a total bust. Bill Pope's cinematography works well to capture the cartoonishness of the whole story, while also providing lush lighting, and David Newman's score is, well...effective, though not necessarily groundbreaking. The last little nugget of gold (well...bronze anyway) in this garbage heap is the underused role of a rookie woman cop, who proves to be quite the quick learner. Several quips and little moments (including one where, after barely a week on the force, she whips out a massive laser gun that she built herself) involving this character come closest to capturing the tone that Miller and crew were probably aiming for. It's a shame that they missed their target by such a wide margin...

Grade: D+

Nominations: none

Number of 2008 films seen: 47

New TV spot for "The Spirit"

New mini trailer for "The Spirit"

Meh..

Theatrical trailer for "The Spirit"

Is Frank Miller's "The Spirit" in trouble?

This reporter seems to think so after witnessing the film's discussion panel at Comic-Con 2008...

Frank Miller's "The Spirit," is officially in trouble. The film, which sport the same "Sin City" visuals and aesthetics for almost no good reason (The original comic by Will Eisner has a much different take with color and none of that stark, black and white look Miller adores).

Geeks will turn on you if you don't deliver the goods, and it appears that mostly everyone was grossly underwhelmed from the Comic-Con panel and what footage was shown. Not a good sign considering this is Frank Miller's directorial debut solo (no Robert Rodriguez to guide him) and the film comes out in December. If you can't build buzz at Comic-Con, five months out before release, you could be fucked. Does this speak to the idea that comic-book films have reached their inevitable tipping point? Reiko Takara, our correspondent in the field breaks it down:

"The Spirit" was supposed one of the most hotly anticipated movies going into Comic Con 2008 but it was quickly eclipsed on the Convention Center floor by the buzz around "The Watchmen." After attending The Spirit panel which featured, Frank Miller, Samuel L. Jackson, Jaime King, Gabriel Macht and producer, Debra Del Prete (Eva Mendes was also supposed to attend but was stuck on the set of the 'Bad Lieutenant'; who knows where Scarlett Johansson was), I don't think anyone left with a different sentiment. In fact, a third of the way thru, a large exodus seemed to head towards the exits. Miller showcased three clips from the movie, a romantic sequence between Gabriel Macht's The Spirit and Sarah Paulson's Ellen Dolan, one underwater gun scene with Eva Mendes' Sand Saref and a "clash of the titans" sequence between The Spirit and The Octopus played by Samuel L. Jackson where the two characters battle in the mud with the scene ending with The Octopus hitting The Spirit over the head with a toilet and the line, "Come on! Toilets are always funny." Really, always? Not in this case.

Although Del Prete, was clear to say it wasn't "campy," the clips' dialogue seemed unintentionally funny. The scenes previewed were heavily in the vein of the sleek, tech heavy work Miller did on "Sin City" with glossy black & white, grays and hints of red. This look they called "nevertime" which included mostly '40s and '50s references but with the presence of cell phones. When Miller was later asked about the special effects in another panel he was quick (for the reserved Miller) to explain that you need to "use every medium for their advantages. Every form has to be embraced for what it can do. You have to remember, I have been writing "boom" to explain an explosion..."

One thing is clear coming out of Comic Con, "The Watchmen" is still the one to watch for the geek set and their messiah, Kevin Smith is spreading the word, who during a panel with both Miller and Zack Synder, kept raving about "The Watchmen" trailer and asking them to play it, even asking Synder to act it out if they didn't have video. Even people like Slashfilm who normally adore most comic-book films called what they saw an "atrocity." If it's constituency doesn't even like it... Man, the studios should definitely be paying attention here. This one needs a major life raft or overhaul if at all possible. One of the film's prime mistakes in our mind was hiring Samuel L. Jackson, he practically ruins every movie these days and has seriously fallen from grace in the last 10 years.

Theatrical trailer for "The Spirit"

I wasn't too interested in this when I saw the teaser trailer (which showed next to nothing interesting other than the Sin City-esque visuals). However, this one (which also highlights the female cast and the villain played by Samuel L. Jackson) is much more unique and intriguing.

In case the video gets taken off of Youtube, here's another (lower quality) video:
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