The Spirit (Movie Review)

Frank Miller has created some celebrated comic books that have recently been made into very successful films. Sin City and 300 both wowed audiences with their stylized visuals that captured much of the source material in a dynamic and appealing way.

Miller, who co-directed Sin City, decided to make "The Spirit" his feature film debut as both writer and director. But the result is an experience lacking both textual substance and film quality.

I am not a fan of The Spirit, and know very little about the character. So I judged this movie on its own merits. I went into this film not knowing what to expect. The previews looked like a Sin City knock-off and Samuel L. Jackson made me nervous from the get go. He’s either really right for his roles, or really wrong for them.

I knew within 20 minutes of this film that I’d made a terrible mistake in coming to the theater. Seven dollars and two hours that I’ll never get back. Sometimes I’ll go and see a movie I might otherwise skip because of my desire to put a review on the blog or podcast, but this movie made me change my mind about that philosophy.
So what was wrong with it? First, it didn’t seem to know who it was. Violent action, yet cheesy dialogue you’d expect from a family film. Bold statements that may look good in a comic panel, like "Shut up and bleed", just feel contrived and gimmicky in this movie. The performances of all involved were just far enough over the top that I didn’t believe in any of them. Scarlet Johannsen was the only actor that held my interest consistently, coming across more subtle and clever than the rest.

The movie used 1930’s period sets and costumes, but threw cell phones and laptops into the mix as well. In some films, this kind of attempt at "timelessness" work. Here, for me, it didn’t. It was just a distraction. (See "Dark City" for an example of this done well.)

Unlike Sin City and 300, the effects were a distraction from the story and characters, rather than an enhancement of them. And some really awkward looking wire work made the title character look silly as he jumped from one building to the next, or performed other acrobatic feats.

Despite looking for it throughout the film, I just couldn’t find any topics touched on that might lead to meaningful conversation. So this movie gets a low Veracity score as well.

Frank Miller has put out some incredible, groundbreaking stuff. But his ideas don’t always work. (See The Dark Knight Returns, or All Star Batman and Robin) I don’t know if his problem is that he becomes to "aware of himself" or what. But his style is hit or miss with me, and this movie was a big MISS. Better luck next time, Frank.

Quality: 6.0

Veracity: 5.0