The Spirit movie is like Shoot Em' Up according to a guy who saw it

S.A.A.D.

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I just got back from an advanced screening of “The Spirit” here in Vegas. According to the people hosting the screening, we were the first audience to ever view the film, and that the eventual theatrical release would have some changes.
Now, I’m a fan of the Spirit comics and Frank Miller (Born Again is easily one of my top 5 comics of all-time), so I was intrigued to see if Miller was going to pull this off. If he did this as a comic, I’d expect the modern way over-the-top Miller that we’ve been getting on All-Star Batman, but would that be how he’d portray his friend’s character on the big screen, for people who have never even heard of The Spirit before?

The answer is that the picture he made is closer to the movie “Shoot ‘em Up” than anything Miller or Eisner have done before (That means no “I’m the Goddamn Spirit”).

The violence is very over the top and cartoony in a Looney Toons style. The first fight, for instance, which takes place after an extended version of the “City is my Mother and Lover” roof-jumping scene we’ve all seen in the trailer, consists of Spirit and the Octopus beating the crap out of each other in a pond by pulling all sorts of weapons and blunt objects out of the water and bashing each other with them.

At one point, The Octopus, laughing hysterically and rambling about he and the Spirit have some kind of connection, pulls out a toilet and smashes it over the Spirit, getting him stuck in the seat. Scenes like this usually start off kind of funny, but go on for way too long.

So, how’s the plot?

The Octopus, along with Silken Floss and three Louis Lombardi's, attempt to steal two mysterious cases. Octopus gets one, but Sand Saref manages to get away with another in a showdown that leaves one cop almost dead.

Saref is blamed for the cop’s state, but Spirit believes otherwise after he finds her locket in the unconscious cop’s hand. The locket reveals a past connection between the two (Spirit and Saref’s past and originals are told throughout the movie in a series of flashbacks that I found it be one of the more interesting parts if the film).

Spirit must then find Saref before anyone else does and find his nemesis, the Octopus. Seref is also tracking the Octopus, who in turn is trying to find her to get the vase back. It turns out the case has a Vial of Hercules’ blood, which can turn the Octopus (or the Spirit) into a God if drank.

Now let’s talk about the good.

The movie looks GREAT. Miller uses pretty much the same style used on “Sin City,” except with more color. Gabriel Macht does a good job playing the Spirit. He hits on pretty much every girl he meets in the film, but the actor manages to pull that off without seeming sleezey.

If you like Sam Jackson when he’s turned up to 11, you’ll probably like him here, turned up to 15. He’s way over the top, but pretty funny throughout.

Eva Mendez is smoking hot and does a good job playing a “tough dame;” sexy and strong. Ellen Dolan, played by Sarah Paulson and Commissioner Dolan, played by Wonder Years’ Dan Lauria, were well developed and well acted.

Now the bad.

The scenes, all of them, seem a little bit too long. Hopefully this is just because it was a rough cut of the film.

The dialogue was beyond cheesy, which some people may love, but I though they took it a bit too far. And the scenes with Lorelei Rox, who is a Death/Grim Reaper character, were confusing both by the intent and visually.

As of now, I'd give the movie a 'C,' but I think it could easily be edited to a ‘B’ by the time it’s released.

If you use this, you can call me “VoicesOffCamera.”
 
Anyways,I am totally sold on The Spirit movie now.

:woot:
 
This is very nice to hear. Not that I ever doubted this film would have potential to deliver the goods.:up:
 
^You know,for a while I had a feeling that the footage we saw of The Spirit fighting The Octopus would be their final encounter. I'm glad that I was wrong about that.
 
You've got to admit... this is great phrasing...

Now the bad.

The scenes, all of them

:oldrazz:



On the 'review', it's so obviously bull.

The only 'scene' the insider could muster describing is one that is currently on YouTube? And, it's somehow the FIRST action scene in the movie? Wow, the plot sure moves lightning fast if Octopus and Spirit are that intensely battling in their first encounter, and Denny's already wearing a 'costume'.

Confused by Lorelei? I must have seen an early cut of this film, too, since I've said repeatedly her scenes are confusing... based on the trailer and Miller's comments from ComicCon.

Really? A cop with Sand Saref gets shot?!?

It's time I admit it... I've seen the film, too. Here's some secret dialogue:
Cop who is bleeding: "..."
Sand: "Shut up and bleed!"

Don't tell anyone I leaked this. :whatever:


Listen, I'm glad you're excited for this. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out, too... but this 'inside story' is a fabrication.
 
You've got to admit... this is great phrasing...



:oldrazz:



On the 'review', it's so obviously bull.

The only 'scene' the insider could muster describing is one that is currently on YouTube? And, it's somehow the FIRST action scene in the movie? Wow, the plot sure moves lightning fast if Octopus and Spirit are that intensely battling in their first encounter, and Denny's already wearing a 'costume'.

Confused by Lorelei? I must have seen an early cut of this film, too, since I've said repeatedly her scenes are confusing... based on the trailer and Miller's comments from ComicCon.

Really? A cop with Sand Saref gets shot?!?

It's time I admit it... I've seen the film, too. Here's some secret dialogue:
Cop who is bleeding: "..."
Sand: "Shut up and bleed!"

Don't tell anyone I leaked this. :whatever:


Listen, I'm glad you're excited for this. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out, too... but this 'inside story' is a fabrication.

Why,what doe's the guy who apparently saw it have to lose?
 
Nothing.

The motive could be anything from 'creativity' to a slow news day at the site.


He provided absolutely ZERO in terms of scenes that have not been seen by anyone following the promotion of this film.... from the rooftop teaser to the comicon footage to scenes from the full trailer.

According to interview material, Octopus is the person who nearly kills Denny, turning him into the Spirit... yet in the "first" scene, Denny is already in costume fighting him???

It's creative. It's a nice story.

But, Rogue Trooper or I or anyone else who follows this production could have come up with those 'scenes', and made up a dialogue to go around it.

Mendez looks 'hot'?

Did he see the trailer, the poster, or the action figure to come to that conclusion?


Listen, I know I'm confrontational regarding the idea of just blindly accepting whatever Miller decides to give us, but I AM hoping for the best, looking forward to this film, and excited that some variation of these characters are heading to the big screen. But, this is just not truthful. AICN is usually great for giving us NEW info and being the first to drop bombshells on people that no one is expecting... but we all already know the 'details' of this review... and sometimes AICN just drops random, baseless fabrications out on us, too.
 
Real or a fabrication. Either way, nothing in the review makes me want to actually see this film. It just sounds- stupid. I don't recall hearing this blood of Hercules thing before, that sounds really stupid. Interestingly, IIRC there is a longevity serum in the first P'Gell story that bears a superficial resemblance to this aspect of the story.
 
I think the review is bull. Like it was said earlier, the only scene he describes is the leaked one shown at comic con. Everything else he describes is vague: "Action is over the top", "Hot women", "Cheesy dialogue". In a Frank Miller film? Get out of here:/

He's just bored. He didn't describe ANYTHING new. And as for the Hercules blood angle? God, I hope he's making that up.
 
Nothing.

The motive could be anything from 'creativity' to a slow news day at the site.


He provided absolutely ZERO in terms of scenes that have not been seen by anyone following the promotion of this film.... from the rooftop teaser to the comicon footage to scenes from the full trailer.

According to interview material, Octopus is the person who nearly kills Denny, turning him into the Spirit... yet in the "first" scene, Denny is already in costume fighting him???

It's creative. It's a nice story.

But, Rogue Trooper or I or anyone else who follows this production could have come up with those 'scenes', and made up a dialogue to go around it.

Mendez looks 'hot'?

Did he see the trailer, the poster, or the action figure to come to that conclusion?


Listen, I know I'm confrontational regarding the idea of just blindly accepting whatever Miller decides to give us, but I AM hoping for the best, looking forward to this film, and excited that some variation of these characters are heading to the big screen. But, this is just not truthful. AICN is usually great for giving us NEW info and being the first to drop bombshells on people that no one is expecting... but we all already know the 'details' of this review... and sometimes AICN just drops random, baseless fabrications out on us, too.

Maybe he saw "Ghost Rider."
 
I think the review is bull. Like it was said earlier, the only scene he describes is the leaked one shown at comic con. Everything else he describes is vague: "Action is over the top", "Hot women", "Cheesy dialogue". In a Frank Miller film? Get out of here:/

He's just bored. He didn't describe ANYTHING new. And as for the Hercules blood angle? God, I hope he's making that up.


There is also a 'wealth' of info (if you consider LOTS of garbage something worth amassing) out there that no one comments on.

On the MyCityScreams site, they have character 'bios' that were written by Miller about his "interpretations" of Eisner's characters... they aren't credited to Miller, per se, but there aren't many people lame enough to refer to the reader as 'pal' right in the middle of a sentence that is supposed to be somewhat educational.

For Octopus, Miller turned him into a disgruntled coroner ( :whatever: ) who has all sorts of secrets of life changing magnitude up his sleeve. He apparently went from a coroner who somehow was also a genetic mastermind with the ability to give amazing power to Denny Colt (who is referred to as dead... and not just thought to be dead) and then moves directly from completely overqualified coroner to kingpin of crime in Central City.

It also says he holds the secret to Denny's power, so it does confirm that in Miller's mind, Octopus 'made' the Spirit and the Spirit DOES have superpowers.

But, the ridiculously overqualified coroner turned genetic mastermind/kingpin of crime/Halloween Adventures manager scenario hasn't been touched... and THAT'S the sort of detail a person who viewed the film would walk away with.

There's no commentary at ALL about the clone fatties that Octopus 'made' who cause all sort of ruckus in Central City, and die in overtly comically violent fashion. These guys have an action figure with several versions of a cartoonishly dead head (one has tire treads all over it)... and yet not a WORD on these guys... because they didn't appear in either trailer or the leaked footage.

This 'inside report' is just very creative writing on a slow news day.
 
The Spirit vs. Octopus scene shown at comic-con is cool within the context that it's our introduction to those characters. It gives you the idea that they've been going at this for a while, and we've been caught in the middle of another Spirit adventure.
 
Seems terribly cheesy, the trailers don't really thrill me and it's all Frank Millers going "****EZ ****EZ ****EZ".
It's a poor excuse for someone waiting impatiently for Sin City 2. :(
 
This is very nice to hear. Not that I ever doubted this film would have potential to deliver the goods.:up:

The potential is there...But only if what we are hearing is the rough film...If they take down the cheese down a notch...And if everything is true...It sounds alright...
 
The potential is there...But only if what we are hearing is the rough film...If they take down the cheese down a notch...And if everything is true...It sounds alright...
Isn't it too late to smoothen out the rough edges though? When's it coming out?
 
Naw...It's still a little whiles away...Comes out on Christmas...So whatever day that is...
 
I think his review was good, but it's important that folks know

THE SPIRIT IS NoT SET IN THE 40's.

He's not... the books were written then & so that is what he is thought to be based in.

If they set him in present day, IT IS NOT MODERNIZING the character
 
There is something you people who are looking for an EXTREMELY SERIOUS angle need to realize:

the book never was meant to be taken TOO SERIOUSLY... that's why we see the comedy aspects of The Spirit

It doesn't have to be as deadly serious as Batman Begins or something. He is a kickass, violent action hero who is so falliable that it becomes funny. Not like The Toxic Avenger CAMP funny though, but humorous enough that we see how different he is from other heroes.
 
This movie looks cheesy and stupid. Just because the Sin City look worked, doesn't mean it will for another comic.

Do yourself a favor, check out my movie instead...

-Frank :unishr:
 
You mean the cheesist film thus far? PWZ was ultra cheesy goodness.
 

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