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Movie Review The Spirit
Frank Miller teaches us that purposefully goofy ≠ good
The Spirit
6:00 pm Dec 26 - by Jeff Brandt – buzz Writer
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The Spirit
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MPAA Rating: PG-13Current Showtimes: No showtimes available
Due to 2008’s proliferation of comic book movies—including the critical successes of Iron Man, Hellboy II and The Dark Knight—it comes as no surprise that the year ends with one last panel-to-screen adaptation. This time our hero is The Spirit (Gabriel Macht), a womanizing former policeman who rises from the grave to protect Central City, his one true love. His pastimes include talking to cats, wearing bright red ties, planning the defeat of the megalomaniacal duo of The Octopus (Samuel Jackson) and Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson) in his dark lair and chasing after Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), an ancient Greek bling enthusiast.
Based on Will Eisner’s famous strip, this Christmas Day release has potential on paper. Writer-director Frank Miller has been on a hot streak with Sin City and 300, and with Mendes baring her buns and Johansson sparing no cleavage, there’s plenty of eye candy to go around.
The Spirit is entertaining, all right. The heavily inked visuals take the sleek, shiny look of Miller’s Sin City to the next level. The shadows, the big hats, the tough talk, the Maltese Falcon prop . . . everything about The Spirit screams film noir tribute.
But most of the time you’re laughing at the movie’s over-the-topness—not with it.
At times, Mendes sounds as if she’s reading from cue cards. Macht’s voice overs mimic the narration of Raymond Chandler’s detective fiction—except they lack Chandler’s characteristic grit and cleverness. Like Jules in Pulp Fiction, Jackson’s character waxes philosophical—except he sounds like a doofus instead of a badass.
The Spirit leaves little doubt that its plot and characters are ridiculous on purpose. That works when the goofiness adds meaning and personality to the final product. In this case, however, Miller’s flourishes reduce the film to a jumbled, self-satirizing mess.
Sound Off
Last post: Dec. 28, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Jeff Brandt (Jeff Brandt) said on Dec. 28, 2008 at 1:00 pm:
Good eye to mark the mistake of calling the fleece medieval. My mistake. I did admire some of the red and white artistry, as you said, and there's something to be said for corny action scene dialogue . . . but the movie was still a mess.
John M (John Mackin) said on Dec. 27, 2008 at 2:46 am:
I was afraid this movie would simply be sin city 2, noir to the max, and nothing new. I was also afraid we'd see Sam Jackson in his regular 'bad-ass" role. On both accounts, I was very happily surprised. Some of the scenes were very sin city-esque, but they tended to stretch into more colors than sin city ever used. Silhouettes in red and white, the way the falling snow looked, even how the images seemed to jump out of the screen were just a few of the effects that really set this movie apart from previous comic adaptations. It really captured the feel of old comic strips. As for Sam jackson, he not only added more bizarre lines to his film repertoire ("Come on! Toilets are always funny! ", "I'm the octopus, I have eight of everything"), but managed to be a very different kind of comic villain, very much so the mad scientist, yet still good for mid-fight banter.
The general goofiness of the characters works to keep the tone of the movie light, very far from the general darkness and grittiness of sin city. this movie certainly isn't a jumbled self satirizing mess, if anything its more fun to watch than many of the movies out right now.
One last note, the above mentioned bling (golden fleece) isn't medieval, unless by medieval, you mean ancient Greek.