The Spirit ½«
PG-13, 103m. 2008
Cast & Credits: Gabriel Macht (Denny Colt/The Spirit), Samuel L. Jackson (Octopus), Scarlett Johansson (Silken Floss), Eva Mendes (Sand Saref), Sarah Paulson (Dr. Ellen Dolan), Dan Lauria (Dolan), Stana Katic (Morgenstern), Johnny Simmons (Young Spirit), Louis Lombardi (Pathos/Logos/Ethos), Paz Vega (Plaster of Paris), Jamie King (Lorelei Rox). Written and directed by Frank Miller.
If there is a future in terms of wowing audiences with a great story, it is officially dead in "The Spirit"; a comic book movie about a superhero (I think) based on a graphic novel or a series of graphic novels by Will Eisner.
The film is nothing more than a mass marketing toy; something the studio can promote through licensing contracts to various toy makers like Art Asylum as a means to produce cool looking 6’ or 12’ inch figures based on the film’s characters. I wouldn’t be surprised if sitting on the shelves at local comic bookstores along with a figure of “The Spirit” are three or four versions of the villain played by Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus dressed in a number of eye-catching outfits. I am equally certain there will probably be some very detailed sexy looking figures of all the femme fatales in the film played by Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson and Stana Katic; all of which will likely come equipped with fashionable high heels, leather boots and outfits and lots of dark ruby red lips.
If the film had boasted a number of special effects, it would be a prime candidate for showings at IMAX theaters, the way audiences were given the chance to see "The Day the Earth Stood Still" remake in the format. I am convinced studios no longer care about whether or not a story is any good. All that matters to the powers that be are making the visuals impressive enough to score some extra bucks showing it on IMAX.
If you remember anything about "The Spirit", it won’t be the storyline. The plot is as thin as the paper the screenplay was written on. I am still not sure how hero Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht), a police officer killed in the line of duty, came back to life fighting crime throughout Central City as “The Spirit.” He is like Halle Berry’s Catwoman leaping from high-rise to high-rise in the dead of night, walking on electrical wires like they are sidewalks.
Likewise, I am even more confused as to how The Octopus was also given superhero, or I should say supernatural powers. Something fans of Eisner’s comic books will be eager to set me straight, provided there are any out there who really think this movie lives up to the graphic novels they have enjoyed reading. Like Alan Moore’s Watchmen, I have never read any of Eisner’s Spirit novels and thanks to this film adaptation, I don’t think I ever will.
The Spirit was written and directed by Frank Miller, who with the help of director Robert Rodriguez and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino, helmed "Sin City" (2005), a series of popular graphic novels Miller also wrote. I didn’t care for that picture’s dark subject matter, which was garbage but at least it was garbage with style. It boasted a great comeback performance by Mickey Rourke as a hulking muscle-bound convict who was more unrecognizable here than he is in his current critically acclaimed role in "The Wrestler" (2008).
Sin City’s trashy subject matter though, at least, had substance whereas The Spirit’s story is completely devoid of any. Apparently, the only thing Miller was concerned about here was capturing how the characters dress, their colors, mannerisms, and names. The Spirit is always wearing a black suit and Lone Ranger mask and hat, for example, along with the red tie and white tennis shoes.
Then there are the names of some of the femme fatales like Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) whose role as a former girlfriend of The Spirit requires her to drop her towel after stepping out of the shower in front of him and xerox copies of her ass to a city official she bribed. As for Scarlett Johansson, the only thing worth remembering other than playing the Octopus’ partner in crime is her name Silken Floss, which I have a feeling has nothing to do with the dental profession.
The only actor to come out unscathed here is Jackson, whose overacting borderlines on humorous sadism. When The Octopus isn’t busy being astounded watching one of his bald dim-witted minions in the form of a tiny head on top of a big foot jumping around on a table, he dresses up as a decorated Nazi officer telling The Spirit about his search for a special vase containing the blood of Heracles that can turn him into a God. At the same time, he threatens to chop The Spirit into tiny pieces sending his remains to various zip codes throughout the country. As if that isn’t enough, The Octopus takes great delight in seeing cute white kittens dissolve in some sort of liquid to the point the only remains are their eyeballs.
“We really need to have more people over for this kind of stuff,” he tells Silken Floss.
I suspect Jackson’s reason for the overacting is he already knows just how ridiculous this movie is so he rises above the unbelievable material with a standout one note performance of his own. His role is the only thing keeping me from awarding this movie the NO STARS rating it really deserves.
Then again, it’s only in America where people can start over again and be forgiven for their mistakes, especially in Hollywood. Perhaps a few years from now, should some studio decide to resurrect "The Spirit" franchise, they might just take Silken Floss’ last words near the end, when she notices a body part of The Octopus crawling in the snow as sound advice. My gutter mind made me think the body part was that of the male anatomy below the waist. It certainly looked like it from far away. It turns out it was a finger. Silken Floss picks up the moving part and puts it in her bra and says, “Start from scratch.”
A part of me hopes studio execs, if not die-hard fans of "The Spirit" graphic novels, don’t take those words literally and start working on another production.
©12/29/08
PG-13, 103m. 2008
Cast & Credits: Gabriel Macht (Denny Colt/The Spirit), Samuel L. Jackson (Octopus), Scarlett Johansson (Silken Floss), Eva Mendes (Sand Saref), Sarah Paulson (Dr. Ellen Dolan), Dan Lauria (Dolan), Stana Katic (Morgenstern), Johnny Simmons (Young Spirit), Louis Lombardi (Pathos/Logos/Ethos), Paz Vega (Plaster of Paris), Jamie King (Lorelei Rox). Written and directed by Frank Miller.
The film is nothing more than a mass marketing toy; something the studio can promote through licensing contracts to various toy makers like Art Asylum as a means to produce cool looking 6’ or 12’ inch figures based on the film’s characters. I wouldn’t be surprised if sitting on the shelves at local comic bookstores along with a figure of “The Spirit” are three or four versions of the villain played by Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus dressed in a number of eye-catching outfits. I am equally certain there will probably be some very detailed sexy looking figures of all the femme fatales in the film played by Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson and Stana Katic; all of which will likely come equipped with fashionable high heels, leather boots and outfits and lots of dark ruby red lips.
If the film had boasted a number of special effects, it would be a prime candidate for showings at IMAX theaters, the way audiences were given the chance to see "The Day the Earth Stood Still" remake in the format. I am convinced studios no longer care about whether or not a story is any good. All that matters to the powers that be are making the visuals impressive enough to score some extra bucks showing it on IMAX.
If you remember anything about "The Spirit", it won’t be the storyline. The plot is as thin as the paper the screenplay was written on. I am still not sure how hero Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht), a police officer killed in the line of duty, came back to life fighting crime throughout Central City as “The Spirit.” He is like Halle Berry’s Catwoman leaping from high-rise to high-rise in the dead of night, walking on electrical wires like they are sidewalks.
Likewise, I am even more confused as to how The Octopus was also given superhero, or I should say supernatural powers. Something fans of Eisner’s comic books will be eager to set me straight, provided there are any out there who really think this movie lives up to the graphic novels they have enjoyed reading. Like Alan Moore’s Watchmen, I have never read any of Eisner’s Spirit novels and thanks to this film adaptation, I don’t think I ever will.
The Spirit was written and directed by Frank Miller, who with the help of director Robert Rodriguez and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino, helmed "Sin City" (2005), a series of popular graphic novels Miller also wrote. I didn’t care for that picture’s dark subject matter, which was garbage but at least it was garbage with style. It boasted a great comeback performance by Mickey Rourke as a hulking muscle-bound convict who was more unrecognizable here than he is in his current critically acclaimed role in "The Wrestler" (2008).
Sin City’s trashy subject matter though, at least, had substance whereas The Spirit’s story is completely devoid of any. Apparently, the only thing Miller was concerned about here was capturing how the characters dress, their colors, mannerisms, and names. The Spirit is always wearing a black suit and Lone Ranger mask and hat, for example, along with the red tie and white tennis shoes.
Then there are the names of some of the femme fatales like Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) whose role as a former girlfriend of The Spirit requires her to drop her towel after stepping out of the shower in front of him and xerox copies of her ass to a city official she bribed. As for Scarlett Johansson, the only thing worth remembering other than playing the Octopus’ partner in crime is her name Silken Floss, which I have a feeling has nothing to do with the dental profession.
The only actor to come out unscathed here is Jackson, whose overacting borderlines on humorous sadism. When The Octopus isn’t busy being astounded watching one of his bald dim-witted minions in the form of a tiny head on top of a big foot jumping around on a table, he dresses up as a decorated Nazi officer telling The Spirit about his search for a special vase containing the blood of Heracles that can turn him into a God. At the same time, he threatens to chop The Spirit into tiny pieces sending his remains to various zip codes throughout the country. As if that isn’t enough, The Octopus takes great delight in seeing cute white kittens dissolve in some sort of liquid to the point the only remains are their eyeballs.
“We really need to have more people over for this kind of stuff,” he tells Silken Floss.
I suspect Jackson’s reason for the overacting is he already knows just how ridiculous this movie is so he rises above the unbelievable material with a standout one note performance of his own. His role is the only thing keeping me from awarding this movie the NO STARS rating it really deserves.
Then again, it’s only in America where people can start over again and be forgiven for their mistakes, especially in Hollywood. Perhaps a few years from now, should some studio decide to resurrect "The Spirit" franchise, they might just take Silken Floss’ last words near the end, when she notices a body part of The Octopus crawling in the snow as sound advice. My gutter mind made me think the body part was that of the male anatomy below the waist. It certainly looked like it from far away. It turns out it was a finger. Silken Floss picks up the moving part and puts it in her bra and says, “Start from scratch.”
A part of me hopes studio execs, if not die-hard fans of "The Spirit" graphic novels, don’t take those words literally and start working on another production.
©12/29/08
