The Spirit
Happy New Year! And here's the frontrunner for the worst movie of 2009 to get us going.
Will Eisner’s 1940s comic strip about the dead or possibly immortal crimebuster was as influential for its hardboiled writing and shadowy graphics as his old school friend Bob Kane’s "Batman". And the two characters have a lot in common, except that Eisner’s hero doesn’t go in for superhero gadgetry, and maybe the strip had a better sense of humour.
Cast details
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Samuel L. Jackson
Born: 21 Dec 1948
Washington, District of ColumbiaTop rated films View all Pulp Fiction - BLU-RAY Version (1994) 
Goodfellas - BLU-RAY Version (1990)
True Romance - BLU-RAY Version (1993)
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Scarlett Johansson
Born: 22 Nov 1984
New York City, New YorkTop rated films View all Prestige, The - BLU-RAY Version (2006) 
On the face of it Frank Miller would seem ideally placed to write and direct this belated movie version; his best-known books, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Sin City take place in a similar urban noir netherworld, populated by larger than life villains and vixens. Miller’s sensibility is certainly more cynical and possibly more sleazy, but no one would suggest he doesn’t know comic books inside and out, and it’s safe to assume Eisner has been an important inspiration to him.
The trouble is, Miller is no filmmaker. That much becomes obvious very quickly. He received a co-director credit on Sin City, but regardless of what you thought of that (not my cup of poison) he was working in league with Robert Rodriguez, one of the most dynamic and fluid filmmakers on the planet, someone who thinks instinctively in terms of cranes and zooms and traveling shots. All of that is beyond Miller, who only knows about composition and costumes… the “look”.
The Spirit: Gabriel Macht, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes
Forget the classics, this is the sort of movie that should be shown to students of filmmaking to illustrate what a director does – and in this case, does not do. Inert, lifeless scenes stack up in an untidy pile, embroidered with reams of semi-parodic purple pulp narration and attractive actors caught in embarrassingly staged situations.
Like Sin City, the movie is an attempt to integrate live actors in a stylized expressionist semi-animated world. But this time the actors are as fake and artificial as their surroundings. They include Scarlett Johansson as luscious Silken Floss – right hand woman to bad guy the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson); Eva Mendes as luscious femme fatale Sand Saref; and Sarah Paulson as luscious doctor Ellen Dolan, who holds a candle for the Spirit.
The eye candy is okay with me and Miller treats Gabriel Macht’s eponymous detective the same way, as a walking fashion plate (ya gotta love his white soles). But he has no idea how to transform the soundstage into cinematic space, the drive the rhythm of a scene or put the actors at ease. Most of the staging wouldn’t look out of place in an Ed Wood movie. A scene in which Mendes photocopies her derriere to punch home a wisecrack about “a perfect ass” is typical of Miller’s constipated idea of sexy-cool. So much of this movie is like wading through sludge.
In another sequence, for no obvious reason Scarlett and Samuel L. are kitted out in Gestapo uniforms and forced to strut back and forth for five minutes while they explain how the Spirit acquired his apparent invulnerability. The fact that Miller knows this back story is ridiculous isn’t enough to make the scene funny or amusing. Instead, he manages to make both stars look amateurish.
I quite enjoyed Louis Lombardi, very cheerful as multiple dumb clones, but Miller’s indulgent misfire never gets going. This man should never be let loose with a megaphone again.
Reviews
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Most helpful members' reviews (3)
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47 out of 47 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Frank Miller - there IS egg on your face!!
Frank Miller needs to get another director to bring his visions to life, where Robert Rodriguez and Zack Snyder made brilliant adaptations of Millers graphic novels (Sin City and 300 respectivly), on this occasion Frank has gone it alone in the directors chair and the film feels....flat.
The characters are 1 dimentional and feel totally detatched from the viewer, and most of the time from each other too. You nver feel any attatchment to Spirit and dont particularly care what happens to him, further since we dont really see any citizens there isnt much concern for 'his' city either. the acting is ropey and even the stylised visuals feel tired and unimaginative, where dashes of colour were powerful in Sin City the whole film feels awash with blandness.
I highly recommend NOT seeing this film, 3/10 - total snooze fest
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- NativityInBlack from Birmingham
- Posted 02 Jan 2009 02:42
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10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
allan
plenty of action in this moveand good wright
up -
10 out of 12 people found this review helpful
RUBBISH !!!! DULL!! POINTLESS!!
so so bad we walked out of the cinema!! this is the first film ive ever walked out of !! cant believe how bad this film is !!
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Most recent members' reviews (2)
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4 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Very entertaining
I saw this at the cinema and had no idea what the film was about bearing in mind that I'm mostly into action/comedy films. I thought this film was very funny as there were some great one-liners! If your looking for Samuel L. Jackson doing what he does best, this film is for you. He plays a great character, and don't underestimate the comedic value of this film!
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47 out of 47 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Frank Miller - there IS egg on your face!!
Frank Miller needs to get another director to bring his visions to life, where Robert Rodriguez and Zack Snyder made brilliant adaptations of Millers graphic novels (Sin City and 300 respectivly), on this occasion Frank has gone it alone in the directors chair and the film feels....flat.
The characters are 1 dimentional and feel totally detatched from the viewer, and most of the time from each other too. You nver feel any attatchment to Spirit and dont particularly care what happens to him, further since we dont really see any citizens there isnt much concern for 'his' city either. the acting is ropey and even the stylised visuals feel tired and unimaginative, where dashes of colour were powerful in Sin City the whole film feels awash with blandness.
I highly recommend NOT seeing this film, 3/10 - total snooze fest-
- NativityInBlack from Birmingham
- Posted 02 Jan 2009 02:42
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47 out of 47 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Frank Miller - there IS egg on your face!!
Frank Miller needs to get another director to bring his visions to life, where Robert Rodriguez and Zack Snyder made brilliant adaptations of Millers graphic novels (Sin City and 300 respectivly), on this occasion Frank has gone it alone in the directors chair and the film feels....flat.
The characters are 1 dimentional and feel totally detatched from the viewer, and most of the time from each other too. You nver feel any attatchment to Spirit and dont particularly care what happens to him, further since we dont really see any citizens there isnt much concern for 'his' city either. the acting is ropey and even the stylised visuals feel tired and unimaginative, where dashes of colour were powerful in Sin City the whole film feels awash with blandness.
I highly recommend NOT seeing this film, 3/10 - total snooze fest-
- NativityInBlack from Birmingham
- Posted 02 Jan 2009 02:42
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10 out of 10 people found this review helpful
allan
plenty of action in this moveand good wright
up -
10 out of 12 people found this review helpful
RUBBISH !!!! DULL!! POINTLESS!!
so so bad we walked out of the cinema!! this is the first film ive ever walked out of !! cant believe how bad this film is !!
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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
have you kinda missed the point?
OK I think some people have missed the point with this film. Its directed by Frank Miller, a genius comic book writer and this film isn't meant to be compared to other comic book adaptations, it IS a comic book but just showing as a film. It is not an adaptation.
Beautiful women, comic book humour, comic book sets and lots of action. I love comic books, I love this film. If you don't like comic books its quite possible you won't.
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- Koppert from Scarborough
- Posted 23 Jun 2009 20:19
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7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
Wow this is not like Sin City or 300
Just got back from seeing it in the cinema and I have to say it's rubbish worse than that. You hear Sin City and 300 and you think action and well conceived storylines. Instead you get a generic story with almost no action bits at all.
The scenery taken from Sin City is faithful until at some points, the mood just doesn't fit and the whole black and white thing that sin city did masterfully just looks tacky.
The characters were good enough, each had a purpose except the henchmen the film isn't too clear on that or Octopus's 'girl' seriously who is she.
Overall I was expecting something great and this isn't. If I weren't with friends I'd left -
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful
If Tesco allowed it I would give it less than half of a star!
DO NOT SPEND ANY OF YOUR MONEY NOR WASTE ANY OF YOUR RENTAL ALLOCATION ON THIS DROSS!
I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY HAD THE BALLS TO PUT IT IN CINEMAS AND THEN ACTUALLY ADVERTISE IT!
UNBELIEVABLY CRAP! -
7 out of 8 people found this review helpful
God awful!
What a pointless waste of £7.30, that’s what Cineworld dared to demand for this steaming pile of excrement. 20 mins in and we knew the choice we’d made was quite obviously the wrong one. I’ve never seen so many people actually walk out of a flim! I’m sad to say the Brit in me made me stick with it, just on the off chance that it’d get better.
It didn’t. The expression of relief evident on the faces of the weary audience at the end of the film spoke volumes. Do yourself a favour and give this film a wide birth! -
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
Did not quite deliver
Perhaps not as scathing as the other reviews as I felt that the film had some merit. As with Sin City (not so much with 300) the film delivered the feel of turning the pages of a graphic novel and the hammy acting style added to that. I actually quite liked the henchmen but agree that the gangster's moll was pointless.
Whether it was acting, directing or script but the film lacked the pace and involvement of Sin City but perhaps the black and white with occasional colour thing only works the once and then become tedious. Whatever the issue the other half nodded off halfway through despite a very loud sound-stage. Perhaps says it all!
Would not call this a waste of time and enjoyed the big screen viewing but with hind-sight might be best to wait for the DVD! -
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
A load of piffle!
I can't remember the last time I felt so robbed by a cinema outing and the tickets were paid for by my mates gift voucher!
The whole film is very confusing and there was far too many light hearted moments!
The bit where Samuel L Jackson kills a cat had to be the tip of the iceberg, stupidity wise! The viewer see's the cat alive one minute and then just the cats eyeballs the next!
I would advise all people with half a brain to avoid this film like the plague! -
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
Not as bad as all that
The Spirit is Sin City without the edge.
Same director and a very similar feel The Spirit is more clean cut and barely needing a 15 rating this is much closer to what adults imagine comic books to be than Sin City was.
The characters are shallower and the plot simpler but the direction is still pretty and the monochrome with a stand out colour is still prevalent.
Enjoyable enough schlock but probably wouldn't merit high priority. Perfect for a hangover though.