One of the things I always enjoyed most about Frank Miller based films, was that whoever was directing, they always managed to convey the proper graphic novel styling through the medium of film, which I understand may not be to everybody's taste, but I always found some endearing nostalgic charm in it. The Spirit though, seems to have lost a little of that. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't expecting another gritty, dark thriller like Sin City but The Spirit, although of a similar cut, feels like a whole different beast altogether.
It being a superhero movie I suppose you may be able to guess the general plot. The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) is guardian, protector and "spirit" of Central City. An ex-cop, he vows to track down all wrongdoers within his beloved playground, in particular his sinister nemesis, The Octopus (Samuel L Jackson) and also tries to pick up a few explanations concerning his near invincibility along the way. And just in case there wasn't enough on his plate The Spirit's first love returns to the city as a major world renowned jewel thief with a deal to make with some shady characters.
The most noticeable resemblances to Millers only other real directed piece, are the colour choices and manner in which it is shot. Where Sin City utilised full black and white with the exception of mainly bodily fluids to make the violence seem all that more graphic, The Spirit does in many scenes use monochrome, but the majority of the film is just shot with very pale and dark renderings, again to make the more vibrant colours stand out and accentuate the features they are supposed to. Simply as a spectacle, this film does look very good. One of the scenes that springs to mind is when The Octopus, annoyed at having his plan gone awry, vents his frustration on some nearby clone lackeys by mutilating them with a variety of Japanese weaponry. The comic-like backgrounds and colours used in this section also contribute to the film appearing ironically childish.
There are numerous occasions where fairly graphic violence is given an immature twist through either choice of colour, dialogue or even the absurdity of the violence itself. This is by far the greatest change between Sin City and The Spirit, in that The Spirit comes across as almost too comical (a strange thing to say about a film based on a comic I know but bare with me). It is clear to see that Miller is merely attempting to make the film even more true to the styling of the comic, but I found the stark contrast between some of the potentially dark and unsavoury events and the humourous climate in which they were handled to be a little off-putting. I like it when films are a little tongue in cheek, and I am a real fan of the grit factor, but this attempt to mix the two just didn't work for me. In my mind it was kind of like having Looney Tunes injuries in Rambo.
That being said I did laugh a few times. Samuel L Jackson standing next to Scarlett Johansson dressed in Nazi regalia (and a very fetching monocle for Jackson) infront of a giant swastika, lecturing The Spirit about their plans, before melting a small cat (except for the eyeballs) was worth the admission fee alone as far as I'm concerned. I had not really anticipated to be laughing at something from the writer/director that had Bruce Willis pound a yellow paedophile's head into mulch in one of his last big films. If nothing much else, it can be said this film is a component comedy.
The character development is something I was slightly confused by in this film. I understand that a lot of superheroes have their vices or quirky traits, and that is part of the reason we like them or empathise with them, but The Spirits character just came across as a bit of a prick. Not the shut off, alpha prick like say Wolverine, but his general demeanour, disregard for almost all other people's feelings and ridiculous womanising made him a genuinely dislikeable character for me. It's not that he isn't given enough depth either, a great portion of the film is devoted to exploring his past and how he came to be, I just really found him irritating. The Octopus was much more likeable. His jovial, megalomaniacal egocentric rants were much more fun to listen to than The Spirit whining about how he lost the one he loved then flipping to talk about how many bitches he's nailed in the next scene. Unfortunately not a great deal is explained about The Octopus except that he used to be a coroner and stole drugs from his hospital to build a crime empire, which is a shame because I would have liked to have known more about him than the masked bell-end of a protagonist.
The acting is good enough, if a bit clunky at times on the part of Macht, and so is the scripting. The (hopefully) intended cheesiness of some of the dialogue and some of The Spirit's soliloquies do feel right off the panels of a new issue. The plot is nearly as standard as they come for comic adaptations and you never do find yourself actually caring about what is going on. Overall this isn't a particularly good film. A few laughs aren't enough to save this resoundingly mediocre experience from being cast down as a thoroughly forgettable superhero movie.
It being a superhero movie I suppose you may be able to guess the general plot. The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) is guardian, protector and "spirit" of Central City. An ex-cop, he vows to track down all wrongdoers within his beloved playground, in particular his sinister nemesis, The Octopus (Samuel L Jackson) and also tries to pick up a few explanations concerning his near invincibility along the way. And just in case there wasn't enough on his plate The Spirit's first love returns to the city as a major world renowned jewel thief with a deal to make with some shady characters.
The most noticeable resemblances to Millers only other real directed piece, are the colour choices and manner in which it is shot. Where Sin City utilised full black and white with the exception of mainly bodily fluids to make the violence seem all that more graphic, The Spirit does in many scenes use monochrome, but the majority of the film is just shot with very pale and dark renderings, again to make the more vibrant colours stand out and accentuate the features they are supposed to. Simply as a spectacle, this film does look very good. One of the scenes that springs to mind is when The Octopus, annoyed at having his plan gone awry, vents his frustration on some nearby clone lackeys by mutilating them with a variety of Japanese weaponry. The comic-like backgrounds and colours used in this section also contribute to the film appearing ironically childish.
There are numerous occasions where fairly graphic violence is given an immature twist through either choice of colour, dialogue or even the absurdity of the violence itself. This is by far the greatest change between Sin City and The Spirit, in that The Spirit comes across as almost too comical (a strange thing to say about a film based on a comic I know but bare with me). It is clear to see that Miller is merely attempting to make the film even more true to the styling of the comic, but I found the stark contrast between some of the potentially dark and unsavoury events and the humourous climate in which they were handled to be a little off-putting. I like it when films are a little tongue in cheek, and I am a real fan of the grit factor, but this attempt to mix the two just didn't work for me. In my mind it was kind of like having Looney Tunes injuries in Rambo.
That being said I did laugh a few times. Samuel L Jackson standing next to Scarlett Johansson dressed in Nazi regalia (and a very fetching monocle for Jackson) infront of a giant swastika, lecturing The Spirit about their plans, before melting a small cat (except for the eyeballs) was worth the admission fee alone as far as I'm concerned. I had not really anticipated to be laughing at something from the writer/director that had Bruce Willis pound a yellow paedophile's head into mulch in one of his last big films. If nothing much else, it can be said this film is a component comedy.
The character development is something I was slightly confused by in this film. I understand that a lot of superheroes have their vices or quirky traits, and that is part of the reason we like them or empathise with them, but The Spirits character just came across as a bit of a prick. Not the shut off, alpha prick like say Wolverine, but his general demeanour, disregard for almost all other people's feelings and ridiculous womanising made him a genuinely dislikeable character for me. It's not that he isn't given enough depth either, a great portion of the film is devoted to exploring his past and how he came to be, I just really found him irritating. The Octopus was much more likeable. His jovial, megalomaniacal egocentric rants were much more fun to listen to than The Spirit whining about how he lost the one he loved then flipping to talk about how many bitches he's nailed in the next scene. Unfortunately not a great deal is explained about The Octopus except that he used to be a coroner and stole drugs from his hospital to build a crime empire, which is a shame because I would have liked to have known more about him than the masked bell-end of a protagonist.
The acting is good enough, if a bit clunky at times on the part of Macht, and so is the scripting. The (hopefully) intended cheesiness of some of the dialogue and some of The Spirit's soliloquies do feel right off the panels of a new issue. The plot is nearly as standard as they come for comic adaptations and you never do find yourself actually caring about what is going on. Overall this isn't a particularly good film. A few laughs aren't enough to save this resoundingly mediocre experience from being cast down as a thoroughly forgettable superhero movie.