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Film Review: The Spirit (2008)

2009-02-05 19:44:58

"The Spirit" Movie Review. 4/10.
By Todd Murphy. ALL ABOUT MOVIES.NET.
Directed by Frank Miller
Starring Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson

Click here for the original review at All About Movies.net.

BOTTOM LINE:
“The Spirit” looks very cool and has certain moments of stylish grittiness that are reminiscent of its superior elder brother “Sin City”, but the corny silliness and awkward execution of the story makes the film more of a joke rather than a quality translation of a graphic novel to the silver screen.

THE GOOD:
There’s something to be said for displaying a unique visual style and “The Spirit” has that quality in spades. Like the other graphic novel adapted by Frank Miller (and co-directed by Robert Rodriguez) “Sin City”, this film has a look unlike normal films as the combination of sublime cinematography, visual effects and colour correction make for an incredibly vibrant and highly stylised graphic world that looks and feels like a moving comic book. Relying mostly on a black and white picture but with flashes of colour here and there, “The Spirit” is a unique visual experience. Supplementing that experience, at its core, is an age-old story about good versus evil set against the backdrop of a hell-hole city where two immortals with a common link battle each other over the fate of the citizens of Central City. The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) is a man who cannot die, who assists the police as a quasi-vigilante, who has a way with women but whose one true love is the city he protects. The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) is his arch-nemesis, an unethical madman hell-bent on becoming nothing less than a god amongst men. With all these elements in place, it is little wonder that there are moments of stylish grittiness, ranging from the sometimes harsh visuals to the dialogue and character interaction. There are also some strange moments of comedy, particularly with The Octopus’ cloned henchman who have no brains and are always smiling, even when they get their heads blown off. “The Spirit” has the elements to make a great film, but unfortunately, they are not used to great effect by director Frank Miller…

THE BAD:
“The Spirit” as an exercise in film direction is an awkward mess. The problems start with the character of The Spirit, which is played with a goofy, stilted and silly dimension by Gabriel Macht. His every move and action seem to be from another type of film; a spoof, and as a result, all of the dramatic tension is destroyed. He goes in to internal dialogues that explains his and other character’s motivations, which would work fine in a graphic novel, but die a horrible death on film given that film is a visual medium and the goofily self-delivered speeches that Macht delivers about what he intends to do make the character a self-parody. Samuel L. Jackson, an otherwise fine actor, is not much better as The Octopus. His character seems to suffer from too many long-winded speeches that give The Spirit enough time to get out of trouble. A particularly bad sequence occurs towards the end when The Octopus appears in a Nazi uniform and spends twenty minutes explaining what’s been going on for the past hour and a half. It might not be their fault; Frank Miller had the reigns on his baby this time and perhaps he should stick to writing graphic novels or getting a co-director like Robert Rodriguez to help him as with the much better “Sin City”. Oddly, the supporting cast in Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson fare much better but they are not enough to save this uneven mess of story and character that disappoints on multiple levels.

Click here for the original review at All About Movies.net.

Todd Murphy is a film analyst and staff writer/reviewer for the film and DVD review web site, ALL ABOUT MOVIES.NET.