The Spirit

[stray]

I was kind of hating on this at first impression, but it looks cool. Sam Jackson can sell me anything basically. Anyone seeing this?

[ashrik]

Early reviews from Ain't it cool everywhere have this as being a god-awful farce of a movie. Someone's got to tell Sammy J to stop dicking around

[stray]

Actually, he's already been dicking around and makes a lot of crap.

Doesn't stop him from selling me on these crappy movies though. Hah

[Velorath]

You're better than this Stray.

[stray]

So you've seen it? I just thought the new previews (with more Sam Jackson) seemed pretty cool.

[Velorath]

So you've seen it? I just thought the new previews (with more Sam Jackson) seemed pretty cool.

I saw parts of it last night it was cringeworthy.  The guys I had test running the prints both thought it was pretty horrible too.  It's Frank Miller putting all the worst aspects of his writing these days into Will Eisner's work.

[Samprimary]

Jeremiah Kipp!
 

What's being pitched at the film's mostly-teenage fanbase is writer-director Frank Miller's adoration of women as sultry monuments of desire, mean streak nihilism, big guns, and portentous show-and-tell dialogue: "The city screams," whispers the Spirit, and then we hear a literal scream—just one of many examples of spoon-feeding that happen constantly throughout the film.

Kirk Honeycutt!
 

"The Spirit," graphic artist Frank Miller's first solo effort as a director after sharing credit with Robert Rodriguez on 2005's adaptation of his own "Sin City," has a single redeeming feature. It illustrates the limitations of the comic-book aesthetic on the big screen.

If we didn't realize this before, it's now clear: Movies must obey the immutable laws of cinema and cannot unfold like so many moving panels. For all its bold digital drawings, a comic-book movie must observe the narrative rhythms, scene construction, character development and dialogue delivery that cinema has honed for more than a century.

"Spirit" does none of this, and it is truly a mess.

AICN!
 

For years now, I’ve owned a copy of “Battlefield Earth.” I’m not sure I need to explain to this crowd why, but for the newbs, I’ll go ahead and give it a shot. Both as someone who wants to make movies and one who just plain loves movies, I own movies that inform my ideas of what film could and should be. Films that share my sensibility, my ideas of romance, action, comedy, etc. Films that give that same gut reaction the 10th time you watch that they did the 1st. And then, there’s “Battlefield Earth,” which I own as the example of the opposite of everything I hold true. ...

And now I’ve seen something that has taken the top prize from “Battlefield Earth.”

Justin Chang!
 

If this summer's "The Dark Knight" raised the bar for seriousness, ambition and dramatic realism in the comicbook-based superhero genre, "The Spirit" reps its antithesis: Relentlessly cartoonish and campy, it's a work of pure digital artifice, feverishly committed to its own beautiful, hollow universe to the exclusion of any real narrative interest or engagement with its characters.

Ron Henriques!
 

I won't bore you with too many details or jokes because my job is to inform you on the quality of a feature, not do stand-up comedy. 'The Spirit' is a film that no matter how bad it looked or how bad I heard it was I still went into with an open mind. I wound up getting my mind blown and not in the fashion I like. This film is a complete mess from frame one and not even worth the film it was recorded on which should be burned immediately to save the participants from further embarrassment.

AV Club's Rabin!

The hard-boiled visual style of Sin City,with its comic book compositions, noirish black-and-white, and impressionistic splashes of color, now feels shopworn. Running gags limp and scenes drag on endlessly with little sense of rhythm, shape, or momentum. Miller’s screenplay oscillates sleepily between leaden camp, stumbling slapstick, and pulpy pseudo-poetry and Macht leaves a fatal charisma void in the lead role. Not even the presence of Jackson in a Nazi uniform late in the film can give this regrettable boondoggle a pulse. In comics, it took Miller decades to devolve into embarrassing self-parody. In film, he’s made that leap over the course of a single disastrous film.

The Spirit feels like the follow-up to Batman & Robin no one wanted. Main bad guy Samuel L. Jackson even spends much of the film indulging in egg-themed wordplay that almost inspires nostalgia for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s avalanche of ice puns in the unloved third Batman sequel.

San Francisco Chronicle!

There will be relationships that end because of this film, which ties with "Wild Wild West" as the worst first-date movie of all time. Even in these lean economic times, I would guess that somewhere between 25 and 35 percent of each audience will walk out before the movie is over. Throwing your $10.25 down a storm drain is a better idea; at least that way you won't feel the added self-loathing of wasting more than an hour and a half of your life watching Eva Mendes in the worst acting job of her career.

Mike Russel!

"The Spirit" is a loony, embarrassing mess that takes the late Will Eisner's classic comics creation and beats it senseless with a giant toilet bowl (literally, at one point).

The movie is a septic tank of vapid noir posturing, bad narration, bizarre pacing, cartoonishly hot femme fatales and ineptly staged slapstick -- in which The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) squares off against an ex-girlfriend turned jewel thief (Eva Mendes) and an eye-shadow- and Nazi-uniform-wearing villain named The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) over some supernatural treasure.
 There's not enough newsprint to document the endless, cover-your-face, can-I-get-a-refund foolishness that ensues. Miller gives George Lucas a run for his money in making Jackson and the rest of the cast (including Scarlett Johansson) look like dinner-theater thespians floundering in a world of green-screened art direction.
 Try not to think about the fact that future Pixar directors Brad Bird and John Lasseter nearly made their own "Spirit" feature in the '80s, because that will only depress you. Eisner is probably spinning in his grave with enough force to burrow to the Earth's core.

Elizabeth Weitzman!

Miller clearly wanted to make an impression, and that he does. Maybe it's better to be remembered for one of the worst movies of the year than forgotten for a mediocre one.

Michael Phillips!

We have our winning entry in the "worst scene in 2008 cinema" sweepstakes. It arrives halfway through the achingly poor screen version of "The Spirit," based on the comic book series begun in 1940 by artist and writer Will Eisner. In a Nazi vaudeville interlude, Samuel L. Jackson, dressed like Col. Klink with a monocle, shares the screen with Scarlett Johansson, dolled up as if rehearsals for a remake of "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS" were starting any minute. They gas on about their plans for immortality, and Hercules' mystical blood, and various failed experiments while their prisoner, the masked, supernaturally hardy crime-fighter known as The Spirit, played by Gabriel Macht, sits there muttering how bored he is with their act. And how.

Steven Rea!

Hard-boiled and half-baked, The Spirit mashes vintage comic strips with new-fangled CGI, sucking the very life out of a mid-century pop icon in the process.
Frank Miller, who began his career as an artist for Marvel (Daredevil was one of his early assignments), now seems bent on transposing the multi-panel, word-balloon format of comic books to live-action film in the most soul-crushing ways.

Currently at 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, bordering on Extreme Disgust on Metacritic.

[stray]

Oh come the fuck on. This just makes me want to see even more now.

[Samprimary]

I'm fine with any action as long as it doesn't give frank miller one red cent

[Trippy]

Eisner is probably spinning in his grave with enough force to burrow to the Earth's core.

I like that one

[Velorath]

Oh come the fuck on. This just makes me want to see even more now.

I'm sure it'll be out on DVD in a few weeks.

[ashrik]

Goddamn, I was going to quote that line too.

I had no desire to see the movie before all this critical acclaim, at 23 I don't have a fucking clue who The Spirit is. But now I'm inclined to give it a peek.

[Venkman]

Even the earliest trailers made it look like a cheap Sin City knockoff. That style doesn't work all the time, and it only works at all if the story(ies) does all of the actual heavy lifting anyway. It's like this generation's bullet-time.

[UnSub]

Miller appears to have lived up to all my expectations for this film. "Sin City" was gorgeous and different and thrilling, with the weakest bits being Miller's contributions (i.e. dialogue, narrative, characters).

Can't wait to see this.

[schild]

Even the earliest trailers made it look like a cheap Sin City knockoff. That style doesn't work all the time, and it only works at all if the story(ies) does all of the actual heavy lifting anyway. It's like this generation's bullet-time.

Not really, everyone else did and still does abuse Bullet Time.

The only people abusing this Sin City Noir-Lite shit are the people that made Sin City. The style of 300 or Children of Men is far more compelling, Hollywood just hasn't realized it yet.

[stray]

I'm not following.. What's the style of Children of Men have to do with any of this? What am I missing? It seems to have more in common with.. the Pianist...than it does 300 or Sin City.

[stray]

Miller appears to have lived up to all my expectations for this film. "Sin City" was gorgeous and different and thrilling, with the weakest bits being Miller's contributions (i.e. dialogue, narrative, characters).

Can't wait to see this.

I think his characters/characterizations have always been pretty damn cool. Whether Batman related or otherwise. Sin City has quite a few cool characters, I think -- thanks in part to the actors as well. That movie wouldn't have went anywhere if it was just the style that carried it.

Agreed on narrative though.

[schild]

I'm not following.. What's the style of Children of Men have to do with any of this? What am I missing? It seems to have more in common with.. the Pianist...than it does 300 or Sin City.

I was merely speaking to cinematography/the style in which they filmed it. I wasn't saying they were alike. I'm not sure how you inferred that from what I wrote.

[Big Gulp]

The only people abusing this Sin City Noir-Lite shit are the people that made Sin City. The style of 300 or Children of Men is far more compelling, Hollywood just hasn't realized it yet.

Sin City was shit.  Cartoony pseudo-noir shit.  It caused me actual physical pain.  300 was the movie that finally took Top Gun's mantle for "Unintentionally Gayest Action Movie".  It didn't help that again, the dialogue, story, and script were all written for 12 year old idiot savants.

Children of Men was a good film.

[Lakov_Sanite]

The only people abusing this Sin City Noir-Lite shit are the people that made Sin City. The style of 300 or Children of Men is far more compelling, Hollywood just hasn't realized it yet.

 300 was the movie that finally took Top Gun's mantle for "Unintentionally Gayest Action Movie".  I
Children of Men was a good film.

I'm thinking it was more than a little intentional.

[schild]

The only people abusing this Sin City Noir-Lite shit are the people that made Sin City. The style of 300 or Children of Men is far more compelling, Hollywood just hasn't realized it yet.

Sin City was shit.  Cartoony pseudo-noir shit.  It caused me actual physical pain.  300 was the movie that finally took Top Gun's mantle for "Unintentionally Gayest Action Movie".  It didn't help that again, the dialogue, story, and script were all written for 12 year old idiot savants.

Children of Men was a good film.

Once again, I was talking about the cinematography, not their merits as film, movie, or some hybrid inbetween.

[stray]

I'm not following.. What's the style of Children of Men have to do with any of this? What am I missing? It seems to have more in common with.. the Pianist...than it does 300 or Sin City.

I was merely speaking to cinematography/the style in which they filmed it. I wasn't saying they were alike. I'm not sure how you inferred that from what I wrote.

Oh, I was just wondering. Kind of came out of left field. Err.. sorta.

Carry on

[HaemishM]

The only people abusing this Sin City Noir-Lite shit are the people that made Sin City. The style of 300 or Children of Men is far more compelling, Hollywood just hasn't realized it yet.

 300 was the movie that finally took Top Gun's mantle for "Unintentionally Gayest Action Movie".  I
Children of Men was a good film.

I'm thinking it was more than a little intentional.

I don't think Big Gulp got it.

[ashrik]

I thought that Top Gun had teh ghey because it had shirtless musclebound men chest-fiving each other and slapping ass while playing volley ball. Which I saw as different from just muscle-bound guys doing muscle shit near each other.

[HaemishM]

No, Top Gun had teh ghey because it stared Tom Cruise and he fell in love with that tranny.

[Nebu]

I've seen many trailers for this and it seems like little more than eye candy.  Have people really become such visual creatures?  I miss a good story and wanting to give a shit about the characters.

[stray]

Don't let one piece of crap get you down. Good character movies abound.

[Trippy]

Has anybody actually seen this yet?

[Velorath]

Has anybody actually seen this yet?

I've watched a few minutes of it here and there.

[Fargull]

Saw this last night.

Honestly, about as good as most camp.  About as good overall as Resident Evil without Mila.  The overall visual feel was targeted at Sin City style, but was too dark.

Sam Jackson was great, but I would recommend renting at best.

[UnSub]

I miss a good story and wanting to give a shit about the characters.

Sometimes you want to watch "Frost / Nixon". Sometimes you want to see exactly how crazy Frank Miller is. Everything in its place.

[naum]

Hilarious review of the Spirit:

THE SPIRIT is not so muçh a disaster as a miscalculation, a naive assumption that because people liked SIN CITY that they would also like whatever other stupid crap this same guy tried to do in the same style.

You know what it is, man? It's nerd overreach. It's like when one political party takes over the whole government. They start to get cocky. They lose track of reality. They go too far, so far even the people originally on their team get mad. The Nerdening of America may have reached that point.

I truly believe that my associate Harry Knowles and many of his colleagues and competitors have transformed western culture. As recently as the '80s and '90s being a nerd or geek was not something anybody would want to admit to themselves. They were the lowest of low, the socially awkward, the uncool. With the rise of the internet though came the rise of "geek culture," and slowly these people reclaimed the word, turned it into a badge of honor. (I wonder if in 20 years people will proudly call themselves douchebags?)

Guys like Harry and Moriarty started to interview writers and directors and to some extent measure their worth based on if they knew about comic books or collected movie posters or some shit. We're all used to these articles about, "Trust me, this is one of the good guys! He's a geek like us, he knew everything about TRON, he has a tattoo of J.R.R. Tolkien on his calf, he has it in his will that a Mexican lobby card of KRULL will be burned and mingled with his ashes." And people on the internet would become protective of these "geek" filmatists and their projects, hype them up on their websights and postings, petition the studios, force their nerd views into the conventional wisdom. The Nerd Panthers.

[stray]

Actually, i think even the AICN guys negatively criticized the Spirit too.

[Triforcer]

The only people abusing this Sin City Noir-Lite shit are the people that made Sin City. The style of 300 or Children of Men is far more compelling, Hollywood just hasn't realized it yet.

 300 was the movie that finally took Top Gun's mantle for "Unintentionally Gayest Action Movie".  I
Children of Men was a good film.

I'm thinking it was more than a little intentional.

I don't think Big Gulp got it.

Even Top Gun Volleyball can't top Return of the King.  Or even Batman and Robin, although the latter was arguably intentional.  I'll never forget watching ROTK with my dad in the theater and having him turn to me saying "you read the books...are the hobbits supposed to be boyfriends?"

[UnSub]

Hilarious review of the Spirit:

THE SPIRIT is not so muçh a disaster as a miscalculation, a naive assumption that because people liked SIN CITY that they would also like whatever other stupid crap this same guy tried to do in the same style.

You know what it is, man? It's nerd overreach. It's like when one political party takes over the whole government. They start to get cocky. They lose track of reality. They go too far, so far even the people originally on their team get mad. The Nerdening of America may have reached that point.

I truly believe that my associate Harry Knowles and many of his colleagues and competitors have transformed western culture. As recently as the '80s and '90s being a nerd or geek was not something anybody would want to admit to themselves. They were the lowest of low, the socially awkward, the uncool. With the rise of the internet though came the rise of "geek culture," and slowly these people reclaimed the word, turned it into a badge of honor. (I wonder if in 20 years people will proudly call themselves douchebags?)

Guys like Harry and Moriarty started to interview writers and directors and to some extent measure their worth based on if they knew about comic books or collected movie posters or some shit. We're all used to these articles about, "Trust me, this is one of the good guys! He's a geek like us, he knew everything about TRON, he has a tattoo of J.R.R. Tolkien on his calf, he has it in his will that a Mexican lobby card of KRULL will be burned and mingled with his ashes." And people on the internet would become protective of these "geek" filmatists and their projects, hype them up on their websights and postings, petition the studios, force their nerd views into the conventional wisdom. The Nerd Panthers.

He's right. Too many geeks miss the wood for the trees. See any "Lord of the Rings" film discussions where people complained that it wasn't exactly like the books, or complaining that Hugh Jackman is too tall to play Wolverine, or that the major flaw with "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" is that Galactus doesn't appear wearing purple-and-pink armour.