Year of Release: 2008
Director: Frank Miller
Starring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Paulson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, Dan Lauria, Seychelle Gabriel, Eric Balfour, Louis Lombardi, Johnny Simmons, Richard Portnow, Stana Katic, Paz Vega, Jaime King, Dan Gerrity, Michael Milhoan
Genre: Adventure, Crime
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 2
Watch it on Amazon
Synopsis and Review:
Author Frank Miller had a very successful first foray into directing when he co-directed "Sin City" in 2005, alongside Robert Rodriguez. For his first solo outing, he decided to adapt the comic book series from Will Eisner focused on the character, "The Spirit", a series which successfully ran in newspapers between 1940 and 1952. The film follows the story of Denny Colt, a former police officer, who now has seemingly unstoppable powers and can always escape death. He goes by the name "The Spirit", and has become a protector and somewhat of a vigilante in the city where he lives. His main antagonist, who seemingly has similar skills goes by the name of Octopus. The Octopus and his associates are intent on getting a chest which contains the blood of a demi-god, in order to perfect an immortality serum, which Octopus previously devised and tested on Denny and on himself. As he tries to achieve his nefarious goals, The Spirit is the only one with enough stamina and resources to battle this seemingly unstoppable villain.
"The Spirit" is a film that stylistically instantly takes us back to "Sin City". The highly stylized look, including colors, costumes, cinematography, production design, combined with the voice over that is utilized, are all elements that were also utilized in the adaptation of Frank Miller's own work. "The Spirit" however has tonal issues, with the narrative trying to adhere to the conventions of the classic film noir, while also allowing the villains and supporting characters to be overly cartoonish (and over the top in the process). Another core issue with the film is the fact that none of the characters have much dimension to themselves, including the central hero. "The Spirit" is for the most part a wooden, cardboard character, without much charisma, save for the fact that he is apparently immortal. Also for all the supporting female roles that the film showcases, and apparently the relationships that are established between the hero and quite a few of them, the film lacks sexiness, or that matter, actual humor. In the end the film never really convinces as a noir upgrade, or a different take on a graphic novel: it mostly feels a bit kitsch, and not deliberately so. The fantastic cast is sadly unable to save the film, though Sarah Paulson does manage to escape with her dignity intact, which cannot be said for most of the team assembled. The cinematography from Bill Pope is impeccable, as is the score from David Newman. This was a missed effort, from a great author/writer.
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