The Spirit is based off the character and comic book of the same name written and drawn not by Miller, but his contemporary and funny book deity Will Eisner. Those of you who are familiar with the Spirit character/story and expect tight correlation with the source material will have to save your breath. Among the numerous creative liberties, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson ) was never even seen in the comic book aside from his "Mickey Mouse" gloves. But we are not talking about whether the movie is true to its source, we are talking about the work on its own merit.
Gabriel Macht plays The Spirit, the masked, fedora donned crusader of Central City with an innate ability to heal from fatal wounds and escape the clutches of death (personified as a woman named Lorelei played by Jaime King). The Spirit attempts to foil and put an end to the criminal kingpin, The Octopus and his right hand woman, Silken Floss (Scarlett Johannson). While on the hunt for the Octopus, he must also contend with the return of Sand Saref (the "what-God-have-I-pleased?" Eva Mendes) a childhood love of the Spirit's true identity, Denny Colt, who is a renowned jewel thief. With the often-frustrating, but genuine support of Commissioner Dolan and the commish's daughter, Ellen, can the Spirit over come his emotions involving Sand, defeat the Octopus, and come to terms with the source of his powers?
Gabriel Macht is confusing as the Spirit. It's hard for me to judge his performance and line delivery since his character is so hard boiled yet his lines are so comical. I have a hard time figuring out how he delivered the line "I'm gonna kill you all sorts of dead" without a smirk on his face. It's not that he's not a capable actor, but with the material it's hard to tell what supposed to be a joke or what's supposed to be gritty.
All the women in the film are dressed in tight clothes, cleavage spilling and backsides peeking out under their skirts. Johannson's Floss is the most entertaining with her deadpan delivery and ridiculous outfits that make her look like the world's strictest, sexiest librarian. I'd pay the overdue fees gladly. Mendes does a decent job as Sand and the rest of the female cast deliver decent performances, but make no mistake, the women in this film are for image first and acting second. There is so much eye candy, your eyes will get diabetes.
The scene stealer is Sam Jackson, whose Octopus is Jules from Pulp Fiction with the volume and silliness turned up to the max. The outfits and the character's odd fascination with eggs are as gonzo as anything Hunter S. Thompson has ever experienced.
The real star of the film is none of the actors, but the CG and cinematography. The film is very artsy and an a visual orgy of distortion, faded colors, harsh black and white, soft lighting, and striking colors. By the trailers and everything else, it begs to be compared to Sin City in terms of the look and, quite frankly, it totally rips off the style, however there are scenes that splash with color. I'm just impressed that they were able to flow in color in and out so seamlessly that it doesn't take the audience out the film. It just fits.
To nit-pick, the dialogue is fairly corny and sounds like what Frank Miller would write if he was asked to make Sin City a comedy. The fight scenes are over the top and downright goofy which make you wonder what you were watching (Watch out for the toilet). Fans of comic books can definitely tell this has Miller's mark all over it due to his then-revolutionary-counter-comic-culture-now-geez-Frank-this-again sexy vixens, hardcore violence, and random Nazi paraphernalia. Comic fans will also enjoy certain references to the comic book culture (Miller acts in the beginning of the film and a truck reading "Ditko Deliveries" named after esteemed artist Steve Ditko frequents the movie). It's hard to discern the mood that Miller is trying to get by making such a dark looking film with moments of gritty inner monologues while contrasting it with the slapsticky fights and cheese.
Is it a good movie? No, but it's not a bad movie. If you want striking images and look at film as an artistic medium, The Spirit is a great film visually and shows how art and technology have truly intertwined. As a story, it's brainless and there is a lot of smiling and nodding with the plot. Is it fun? Well, it depends on your definition of fun. I can turn off my brain and enjoy the visuals, artistic or exploitive. If you can't, then it probably isn't for you.
