Just got back from THE SPIRIT. It takes a while to get into, and when you get into it, it almost works. Miller’s missteps prevent it from working entirely. It’s one of those movies that doesn’t quite know what it wants to be, and knows it, and revels in it. As such, some things worked, and some didn't. Some things really worked, and some really didn't.
There are a few moments where everything is just right. Quick little fight sequences in shadow, an eye popping look from Macht, a line here or there, a predicament The Spirit finds himself in, etc. And when THE SPIRIT gets that right, for a moment, it feels very right. If Frank Miller had restrained himself...and stuck to what’s always made the Spirit work...this could have at least been a good film, one that honors the character and his world. But he didn't, so only part of that is the case.
Visually, the movie ranged from beautiful to disappointing. Some shots are fantastic, and some shots looked awkward as hell (the editing from Eva Mendes rising out of the water, for instance). The movie uses a lot of the same film techniques SIN CITY did “white frames, CGI cars, etc”, but I wouldn’t say it “looked like” SIN CITY overall.
Tonally, there’s a difference between not taking something seriously and playing it for comedy...and not taking something seriously and it still not being funny. A lot of THE SPIRIT isn't taken seriously...and isn't funny, either. Stuff like The Spirit speaking his monologues out loud as he walks around made little sense, and detract from whatever atmosphere had been built.
Gabriel Macht is pretty good as The Spirit. His "noir voiceover voice” was a bit hard to handle at times, but he certainly looked the part. Great eyes. I kept thinking how much better he would have looked in blue. The entire movie, I was thinking “You know, that shot of the suit would look a lot better if it was blue”. Also not sure why we needed to see The Spirit’s sneakers highlighted. That was annoying. The powers Miller gave him were almost pointless, and the movie could have done without them.
The Octopus. I don’t remember The Octopus from the old stories, so I can’t say much, but I’m pretty sure he was never a “gangster”. Sam Jackson was...ok, I guess. It was a terribly written role, and I really don’t think Jackson would ever have been my pick for the role of The Octopus. He did what he does, which is to remind you that he’s an angry black man. The Octopus was sort of a pointless villain, and his plot was relatively stupid, never posing any real threat to anyone. He may, in fact, be the worst comic book supervillain I’ve ever seen, and that includes the witch from SUPERGIRL. “Save the world?” From what? The Octopus dying a horrible death when he tried to drink the potion? (Didn’t Sand Serif’s husband try to drink from the vase and die a horrible death, or was she just lying about killing him?). The guns he was using at the end? Ridiculously hard to buy.
Silken Floss was boring and somewhat useless a character, although Scarlet Johannsen had a few relatively funny moments.
The Clone Henchman got annoying quickly. A few funny moments out of dozens that fell flat.
Ellen Dolan was decent, as was her father.
Sand Serif’s backstory was stupid, forced as hell, and the “actress” who played her as a teenager was just terrible. Stick to porn, honey. Eva Mendes was ok, but very flat, and is still a terrible actress. Nice ass, though. At least she and Macht had something resembling chemistry. The kiss at the end was aces.
Paz Vega’s Plaster of Paris was just...odd.
The rookie female cop was annoying.
Lorelei was strangely positioned in the film, but the payoff when he almost died made seeing her pop up throughout the film worth it.
Most of the women were just sort of...there. Miller brought in the femme fatales and it kind of feels like none of them really did anything. I mean, anything of consequence. One of them copied her ass, and Ellen put The Spirit in a hospital bed, and that’s about it.
Storywise, I thought that The Spirit wondering where he came from and how he'd survived was a nice angle, if not executed particularly well or revealed in an interesting manner. There was some decent tension between he and Dolan, and I wonder if Ellen knew her Denny was alive in The Spirit. The angle with the Golden Fleece and the Blood of Heracles, though, that was just lame. Is that from a story in the comics?
Most of the dialogue is awful. The music is servicable. Overall, the film has some nice moments, some clever moments, and some that are just eye-rollingly bad. So it’s kind of a mixed bag. The result is a film that feels like it honors The Spirit and his world...right up to the point where it doesn't. I really think they should have kept elements like Ebony White and featured a slightly more classic-feeling and interesting plot than “I want what’s in that box” and a battle-80's update of The Spirit's world.
5/10.
up:
If you liked Darkman, Army of Darkness, Flash Gordon, Blade Runner, and ofcourse Sin City, you'll really dig this!!
