Here's one from Rotten Tomatoes:
Its like walking into your office and finding a buxom, leggy blonde on your desk, begging for your help. Its going to be so much fun, how can you say no?
by
Fiore Mastracci | December 24, 2008
THE SPIRIT
I walked into the screening for the SPIRIT with no expectations. Why should I? What was the use? Another movie based on a comic; they were a dime a dozen these days. Besides, I'm selective about my comic reading; almost picky. THE SPIRIT hadn't been on my list, so you could say I went in untainted. Couldn't say the same for the other 'critics' present. Oh, they looked like critics, but they were hiding behind the fear and intimidation this city dishes out like checks at the first of the month. Mousy dames and rotund scribes filled with self-importance who cower when the real bad guys stand in their way.
Some diamond dapper named Frank Miller penned and directed this film. He's always been known for being a bit touched. The city can do that to you. You see too much of its dirty underbelly and something snaps. Everyone knows it and prays it doesn't happen to them. It happened to Miller, and this time, it really showed. This SPIRIT was so far over the top no one knew what to make of it. They scratched their heads and tried to shield the bewildered look on their faces. Not me. I laughed. I got it. I knew what Miller was doing. It was a send up. He'd had enough of all those dime graphic novels making millions in celluloid, so he lambasted them in the only manner he knew how. Yeah, I understood Miller. Maybe he wasn't so touched after all. I laughed more at this movie than any other movie this year, save for "Tropic Thunder".
So as I sat in my worn-out theatre chair and felt the stickiness of week old soda and candy on the floor, I realized some gunsle named Bill Pope and a broad called Nancy St. John were responsible for the look of THE SPIRIT. He was a Director of Photography and she was FX Supervisor; yeah, she supervised alright. They took Miller's ideas and transformed them into visual eroticism. I was lookin' at somethin' that bounced from real life to animation and any combination between. It was weird, but it was fun. Perhaps too much fun. It confused the others. While I laughed, they gave me the icy stare and cold shoulder. Any minute, the coppers would come and pull a Minsky. Then the real fun would start.
But I stayed. I stayed because I liked the idea of Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes both flashing too much leg and cleavage for evil and good. I couldn't hold back the laughter of Samuel L. Jackson dressed as a Nazi Officer for an interrogation scene, complete with cant camera angles reminiscent of the "Batman" TV series. There was a hero, Gabriel Macht, who could seduce any woman by merely saying 'hello' and a torturer in what could barely be called a dance skirt named Plaster of Paris. Who can keep a straight face with these kinds of shenanigans? Not me; nor would I even try!
I'd seen something like this movie before. It reminded me of "Pulp Fiction" and "Sin City" all mixed carelessly with "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow". But this had a new twist. Something had set Miller over the fence. Cheap tequila, single malt scotch, something stronger? I didn't know, and I didn't want to find out. I just knew I was enjoying the show and whatever was scratching his soul could just keep on scratching. There was something familiar about the opening song, too. Some cat named Elfman had written a tune that sounded just like it down at the Oingo Boingo Club. Wouldn't be surprised if there was legal trouble there; but that wasn't my concern %u2013 at least not yet.
So while the urchins scrambled looking for something familiar they could identify with, I enjoyed a novel type of movie. THE SPIRIT was funny. It looked good, too; like a tall leggy blonde sitting on your desk when you return to the office. Some won't get it; some never do. But if you're looking for a film so bizarre it's stimulating, then THE SPIRIT is your ticket. You can check out these scenes.
KEY SCENES TO LOOK FOR:
1. THE FIGHT IN THE BOG
2. THE SILOUHETTE FIGHTS
3. ANY SCENE WITH LADY DEATH
THE RATING FOR SPIRIT = A
BFCA RATING = 9/10
t:
Ebert also didn't like the first X-Men. I'm just saying.
