“The Spirit” — A FilmCritic Review
It’s been too long since we’ve had a proper comic book superhero on the screen. There’s been enough of them running around and bashing up the bad guys in a CGI-enhanced fashion, that’s for sure. But it’s hard to look at the recent cinematic incarnations of Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne and call them “superheroes;” even if they keep their identities secret and have nifty outfits. “Billionaire action figures” would be more appropriate, what with all their high-priced gadgetry and super-duper hideouts. Whatever happened to the caped heroes who kept an eye on the city’s dark alleys and took out the bad guys with nothing more than a sock to the jaw?…
Frank Miller’s jazzy The Spirit answers that question with a cocky wink and a grin…..There’s a supervillain out there called The Octopus (played with rarely-seen operatic relish by Samuel L. Jackson) and a squad of curvaceous femme fatales to fall in dangerous love with….
In short, it’s neat-o.
Catch the full review by Chris Barsanti at Filmcritic.com (Copyright © 2008)
Anyone know how this compares to Sin City? The visuals look the same. But I hated Sin City and would like to know what to expect from this.
If you read the review, it pretty much tells you. Though I must have missed the point in which it became cool to knock Marvel films.
oh come on, what the hell. infinite loop of mind numbing sadism? sin city was a great movie. and the “caped heroes who kept an eye on the city’s dark alleys and took out the bad guys with nothing more than a sock to the jaw” all died during the golden age. read the comics before you screw the characters over.
It’s a little strange that this is the only good review I can find of “The Spirit” (most other critics have had to invent new words to describe its lameness), and it slams other superhero films some of which are not only excellent, but considered by many to be the best in their genre. It’s almost like a Bizarro World review.
I would rate Sin City over Ironman and Batman primarily because it is a made-up world. A stylized version of good versus evil, literally looking at them as black and white (with a little yellow and red thrown in for effect). The over the top acting, narration, and action leaves no doubt we are dealing with a made-up world, made up story, and made up people, but it works wonderfully in telling the stories.
One additional advantage is that within their own boundaries each story is coherent, flows well, and suffers from no timing issues. Something I cannot say for either Ironman or Batman. Don’t get me wrong; I rate Batman (the latest) as pretty good. A notch above Ironman, who suffered from many flaws but was nonetheless enjoyable the first time around (it did not fare as well on a second viewing).
Regardless, all these, including the original review, are personal opinions. It surprises me when people are surprised to find out others don’t agree with them. I guess because of my advanced years, I just got used to the fact everyone else is always unerringly, uncannily, misguidedly wrong, to the point it no longer bothers me.
I watched “The Spirit” today, and knew that the reviews would be cruel.
Miller retained some of the goofy fun of Eisner’s strip, but told the story in his own “noir” style. Most people will not like this movie, or get where Miller is coming from.
Personally, I enjoyed it for what it is. Unfortunately, Miller has the misfortune of putting this movie out after “The Dark Knight” set a new standard for the superhero movie genre. Ironic, given that his graphic novel of the same name made that movie possible.
worst movie ever. believe the critics, save your money. buy the Eisner comic to get the real deal. Miller should be shot. Jackson should be ashamed, I need a drink. Walked out after thirty minutes, way to rape a classic icon Frank. What’s next? TheYellow Kid as a Teen Cutter with a drinking problem?
I give up on Hollywood.
Tim
the worst movie in 2008.waste my money n time. almost half the cinema empty before the movie ends!
I liked it just fine.
I must admit, I liked Sin City more, but this is not a bad flick from a first-time director. Kudos to the actors, production values, etc.
It was missing something that I can’t quite put my finger on, and the only way I can describe it is that it was a little “cold”.
Sin City was…there was…a kind of…
It was “warmer” than The Spirit. Which sounds weird, I know. Especially considered that the style of the two films is quite similar.
Maybe someone here can explain it better than I can.
Sad to say it really was a terrible movie. I couldn’t stand it after 25 minutes and actually left the movie theater. I don’t think I’d ever done that before. I had high expectations from this movie specially because to a certain degree, Eisner and Miller where “buddies”.
I’m not going to tell you not to go see it. (that is your decision to make) all I can say is that to me it was lame and extremely disappointing. Visuals where good though.
It’s funny that Frank Miller has turned something recognizable into something really lame. What’s even more odd is that the target audience isn’t really the folks who were familiar with the original comic strip, but rather the younger generation that can appreciate highly stylized, violent and colorful images. So you know this movie must be bad when it’s getting bashed by both the people who are familiar with the original material, as well as by the people who have know knowledge of The Spirit going into the theater.