The Spirit

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

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.

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!

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!"

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