"The Spirit" Talkback (Spoilers)

[Space Cadet]

Down these mean streets a man must come. A hero born, murdered, and born again.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Thespiritposter.jpg (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/Thespiritposter.jpg)

The Spirit: My city, I can not deny her. My city screams. She is my mother. She is my lover, and I am her Spirit.



Release Date: December 25th, 2008
Studio: Lions Gate Entertainment, OddLot Entertainment
Director: Frank Miller
Writers: Frank Miller
Starring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes
MPAA Rating: PG-13(for intense sequences of stylized violence and action, some sexual content and brief nudity.)

Plot Summary: Rookie cop Denny Colt returns from the beyond as The Spirit, a hero whose mission is to fight against the bad forces in Central City.

COMMENTS?

[ShadowGUN]

Saw it. Let me put it this way, Miller should stick to his own creations and stay faaaaaaaaaaar away from other people's creations. That and he should never, ever direct again.

The plot gave me a headache. The acting either was terrible(the female cop that was with the commisioner) or over the top ( Sam L.). Most of the female cast was useless (especially Plaster of Paris). The first encounter between Spirit and Octopus look like an "epic final battle" while their final battle looks like an "introduction". It was terrible. Willl Eisner must rolling on his grave at maximum speed.

Rating: 1/10 (the 1 because at the female cast was nice to look at. Everything else was bleh.)

[Brekkie]

A week before the movie was released there were a ton of reviews stating the horrible truth about this film.

Jondough Deems Frank Miller’s THE SPIRIT The Worst Movie He’s Ever Seen!! (http://www.aintitcool.com/?q=node/39450)

Variety's Review (http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939232.html?categoryid=31&cs=1)

Hollywood Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/film-review-the-spirit-1003923969.story)

Alexandra DuPont Fails To Get Into Christmas’ THE SPIRIT!! (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39573)

This was the review where I learned the expression "laying cable." which Miller did alot.

What is quite sad is that there was a point in time when an animated Spirit movie (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocomplex/2008/12/the-spirit-that.html)could have been made.


And they want to give Miller Buck Rogers (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i8cb71d29182efee6d6f7618b9ddcc5af).

[Mister Intensity]

Brad Bird directing The Spirit, now that would have been perfect.

[JeffBreakdown]

Thank god for unruly teenagers screaming and throwing change and popcorn during this movie. The theater that I live near is terrible to see movies at due to teenagers wanting to pay 10.50 to talk to there friends. It has ruined many movies for me, most recently Hellboy II. I got about 45 minutes into the movie when I had to leave and ask for a refund due to the non stop cell phone reliant children ruining my movie going experience; but I'm not mad this time because I got my 10.50 back, and only wasted 45 minutes of my time rather then the full length of the movie. It was pretty bad...but Punisher: War Zone was worse...one reason being I was expecting The Spirit to be comical. Yeah, it was bad, but I'm not angry about it like many other movies that are bad that I pay to see.

[TheVileOne]

This is one of the worst movies ever. I'm not trying to jump on the bandwagon, but yeesh. They didn't know what the hell they were doing here.

I wonder what Lionsgate execs. were thinking during the screenings.

[Kenny E. McCall]

And now bring on Brad Bird's version of the Spirit, which should be done by Pixar, and a hell of a lot better than what that pussy, Frank Miller, did! The reason Frank Miller did this film is that the studios wouldn't let him do Sin City 2, which would've had more females than the entire cast of "Showgirls."

Message to whatever studio is doing "Buck Rogers:" Have the aforementioned Brad Bird work his magic on Buck Rogers, and put a cap in Frank Miller's (bleep) if you know what good for you!

[TheVileOne]

This movie was Showgirls and Gigli bad.

It's almost like Frank Miller believes in his own hype. He totally spat all over Eisner who Miller claimed was his friend and mentor.

[Goodfellow]

This movie was just down right amazing. It even tops Iron Man in my book. Not for its acting and plot, but for its style and substance. The Spirit stayed in character with Will's humor while being mixed with Miller's Sin City style. It was a masterpiece of its own, with some of the greatest one liners since Shoot Em Up. My favorite being, "You were as dead as Star Trek." The way everything was done was very comic like, and if you are a fan of either the source material or Sin City, this movie is a must see. The Octopus was over the top and hilarious, so you could tell he was having a great time with the movie. I give it a solid 5/5 stars and rank it up in the top non-super hero comic movies of all time.

[JeffBreakdown]

This movie was just down right amazing. It even tops Iron Man in my book. Not for its acting and plot, but for its style and substance. The Spirit stayed in character with Will's humor while being mixed with Miller's Sin City style. It was a masterpiece of its own, with some of the greatest one liners since Shoot Em Up. My favorite being, "You were as dead as Star Trek." The way everything was done was very comic like, and if you are a fan of either the source material or Sin City, this movie is a must see. The Octopus was over the top and hilarious, so you could tell he was having a great time with the movie. I give it a solid 5/5 stars and rank it up in the top non-super hero comic movies of all time.

Whaaaaaaaaaaa?

[Movie06]

Whaaaaaaaaaaa?

You're shocked about someone having an opinion?

[Goodfellow]

Whaaaaaaaaaaa?

Whaaaaaaaaaaa what? You said you weren't even in the theater for more than 45 minutes, so you missed out the entire movie, especially the best parts, like the comedy that is The Spirit. Actually, the movie had myself and everyone in the theater I was in laughing during the mud fight scene at the beginning, so I have no idea how you say there was no comedy in it.

[JeffBreakdown]

Whaaaaaaaaaaa what? You said you weren't even in the theater for more than 45 minutes, so you missed out the entire movie, especially the best parts, like the comedy that is The Spirit. Actually, the movie had myself and everyone in the theater I was in laughing during the mud fight scene at the beginning, so I have no idea how you say there was no comedy in it.

No, the comedy I was cool with...I saw the whole mud fight scene, and yes, the movie is visually stimulating...but after 45 minutes there should have been a plot. All I got was that they were looking for blood of some Greek guy and Spirit and Sans used to date. And those clones weren't comedy, they were stupid.

[Ragebot]

It was a masterpiece of its own, with some of the greatest one liners since Shoot Em Up. My favorite being, "You were as dead as Star Trek."

Never before heard a Star Trek reference in your life, I take it? :)

[dmxx116]

They should have a real filmmaker making this not Frank Miller.

[Baltofan]

I waited for it, but so many bad reviews.

I wanted Brad Bird to do it too.

[Hanshotfirst113]

Thank god for unruly teenagers screaming and throwing change and popcorn during this movie. The theater that I live near is terrible to see movies at due to teenagers wanting to pay 10.50 to talk to there friends. It has ruined many movies for me, most recently Hellboy II. I got about 45 minutes into the movie when I had to leave and ask for a refund due to the non stop cell phone reliant children ruining my movie going experience; but I'm not mad this time because I got my 10.50 back, and only wasted 45 minutes of my time rather then the full length of the movie. It was pretty bad...but Punisher: War Zone was worse...one reason being I was expecting The Spirit to be comical. Yeah, it was bad, but I'm not angry about it like many other movies that are bad that I pay to see.

Ah, at least they weren't making out on the floor next to you. That's what they always do when I go. Not that I'm jealous or anything ;).


They should have a real filmmaker making this not Frank Miller.

I'm kind of inclined, even just from the trailer, to think that that's probably at the root of the problem. Miller is interesting as a visual stylist and his comic book background gives his work an interesting vibe, but while his injections of noir style were an exhilarating breath of fresh air when he first did his comic book work, but he's just continuing to recycle his hard-boiled fetish endlessly now, and it's grown beyond tiresome. My initial inclination that this movie looks like Sin City Redux is only being confirmed here, as well as by the critical and fan evisceration that it's undergoing. Miller is simply not much of a director, I would guess. The mediums are just so different. Obviously, I can't judge the movie without having seen it, but I'm definately not inclined to spend money on this now.

[Temple Fugate]

It was a masterpiece of its own, with some of the greatest one liners since Shoot Em Up. My favorite being, "You were as dead as Star Trek."
This coming from a film that was supposed to premiere AFTER Star Trek's revival movie. That analogy makes absolutely no sense in today's context. Even when this script was written, the Star Trek movie was either in pre-pre-production or already greenlit.

Also, any relation whatsoever to Shoot 'Em Up is a bad one in my book. Did SEU have hilariously awesome one-liners? Yeah. Did SEU have anything else worth watching the movie for? No. I'd rather see The Spirit having more in common with the Dick Tracy movie than Shoot 'Em Up.

My friends and I might go see this movie tonight, but after reading the reviews, I may try and persuade them to do something else with our time and money.

[rggkjg1]

This is one of the worst movies ever. I'm not trying to jump on the bandwagon, but yeesh. They didn't know what the hell they were doing here.
the only bandwagon i can think of is the "frank miller is a genius" bandwagon. i will always be glad to see people come over and join the "anti frank miller" bandwagon.

i kind of wanted to see the film, but i'm surprised at the negative reviews. i thought there would be alot more positive reviews, simply because the rest of the world thinks frank miller is a genius. according to rotten tomatoes, it has a lower rating than punisher: war zone at the momment. only frank miller could have pulled that off. now i just have to wait and see which film made more money. now that will be hillarious if it was punisher: war zone (very unlikely).

i hated the sin city film, and i think i'll be able to live without seeing sin city 2 (the spirit).

[Hanshotfirst113]

Also, any relation whatsoever to Shoot 'Em Up is a bad one in my book. Did SEU have hilariously awesome one-liners? Yeah.

Reasonably funny one-liners. I don't know if I'd call them "hilariously awesome :p."


No. I'd rather see The Spirit having more in common with the Dick Tracy movie than Shoot 'Em Up.

I think that Dick Tracy is tons of fun and woefully underrated, and in many ways did the sort of things that Sin City and 300 did years beforehand.

[TheVileOne]

What the heck does Dick Tracy have in common with 300?

The dialogue in this movie was awful. The directing was terrible. Frank Miller can't stage a scene to save his life.

I didn't like anyone in it. Even the hot ladies were obscured by terrible cinematography and coloring.

That whole Plaster of Paris scene, I was just like, "What the heck is going on here." And then when she leaves. Double OMG.

This movie was a look at Frank Miller's dirty mind. It's like the man truly fell in love with himself and started believing his own hype when he really hasn't done any truly inspired comic book work in many years.

[Palin Dromos]

Visually this movie is definitely something to watch with it's extreme stylization. 90% of the shots would make great wall art.
For better or worse the dialogue, plot, and performances are also heavily stylized. It has caricatures as opposed to characters. Everyone really is just one-note...well the Spirit is kinda 2-note, but everyone else is almost the very definition of one-dimensional. I mean that as an observation, and not necessarily a critique. Since it is so stylized I assume that the one-dimensionality is intentional.

It did actually remind me of "Dick Tracy" with the outright embrace of style, but "The Spirit" does have trouble keeping the viewer hooked in, and lacks the genuine humor of "Dick Tracy".

The problems with the film (if you wish to call them that) can certainly be traced back to Frank Miller. All of the dialogue would be fine written on a comic page, but when it's spoken it sounds stilted. Additionally Miller hasn't yet learned how to direct actors. Each performance goes off in a completely different direction, there's no cohesion. It's easiest to spot during the villain scenes. Sam is over-the-top and Scarlett seems bored, obviously part of that is how the characters are written, but they don't quite gel together. Another example is the rookie character Morganstern, I get the schtick, but she sticks out like a sore thumb. Miller seems to be suffering from early onset GeorgeLucasSyndrome, minus the Cuddly-Kid-Friendly-Character-Cancer.

I was also kinda insulted by the film's need to explain the Hercules myth, since I assumed that most people knew about Hercules from pop culture (the Kevin Sorbo show, and the Disney flick/show, the Marvel comics) at least, if not the actual Greek stories. But after reading a few comments here, I guess it was needed. (I weep a little at the education of the young).

Don't write the film off entirely, because the visuals are worth checking out. But maybe bring a copy of "The Dark Knight" score in, on your iPod, and listen to that instead of the film's actual audio. I think this is a film that is better seen, than heard. When they release it on DVD they should include an score-only audio track, because that'll be the best way to experience the movie.
If the film had a little more humor I could see it becoming one of those late night audience participation flicks like 'Rocky Horror Picture Show' or 'Moulin Rouge.' The costumes are zany enough and the dialogue is easily quotable- with tongue firmly in cheek. You can't tell me there isn't a little Dr. Frank-N-Furtur in Sam Jackson's Octopus.:p

Also can anyone point me to an interview or something that explains why Frank put the Spirit in a black suit. Every illustration of the Spirit I've every seen has him wearing blue, it kinda seems like his trademark color. Heck I woulda believed a very dark navy, but Miller went for straight-up black. It confuses me.

[ShadowGUN]

Also can anyone point me to an interview or something that explains why Frank put the Spirit in a black suit. Every illustration of the Spirit I've every seen has him wearing blue, it kinda seems like his trademark color. Heck I woulda believed a very dark navy, but Miller went for straight-up black. It confuses me.

http://www.revolutionsf.com/images/content/spirit87side.jpg

Maybe it because the bright suit doesn't match the dark look of the movie.

[Dukect45]

Four word review

A waste of time

[Master Moron]

I'm kind of inclined, even just from the trailer, to think that that's probably at the root of the problem. Miller is interesting as a visual stylist and his comic book background gives his work an interesting vibe, but while his injections of noir style were an exhilarating breath of fresh air when he first did his comic book work, but he's just continuing to recycle his hard-boiled fetish endlessly now, and it's grown beyond tiresome. My initial inclination that this movie looks like Sin City Redux is only being confirmed here, as well as by the critical and fan evisceration that it's undergoing. Miller is simply not much of a director, I would guess. The mediums are just so different. Obviously, I can't judge the movie without having seen it, but I'm definately not inclined to spend money on this now.

You know, when I first saw the ads I actually thought it was Sin City 2 and I got all excited for a second. Then they showed the title and I thought "The Spirit? What the hell is that? I want Sin City 2 damn it!" I was actually a little pissed off at the ad for building up my excitement and then smashing it to pieces.

[TheVileOne]

Visually I don't see what's so great about the movie. It was disgusting to watch.

[Hanshotfirst113]

Visually I don't see what's so great about the movie. It was disgusting to watch.

I admit that this whole phenomenon of filming things against green screens and adding digital sets and flashy effects is not much to my liking.

[Palin Dromos]

Visually I don't see what's so great about the movie. It was disgusting to watch.


I admit that this whole phenomenon of filming things against green screens and adding digital sets and flashy effects is not much to my liking.

Okay, so it wasn't your cup of tea.
I can definitely see the style being an 'acquired taste'

I won't try to defend something that just rubs the wrong way, but for some of us it does work. I still think that all the shot of Jamie King in those dream sequences were just gorgeous, the points of light and all that.

This style might work better in smaller doses and may not stick around in the feature film world, but I don't want to see it disappear completely.

[krazymed]

Normally, Eva Mendes naked gets a "thumbs up" from me, but not when I have to pay nine dollars for it. The dialogue was cheesy, the plot was painlessly predictable, and the art style only got in the way. Add one more vote to the "waste of time" vote.

[Michael24]

I admit that this whole phenomenon of filming things against green screens and adding digital sets and flashy effects is not much to my liking.

I agree. A friend of mine says he loves the idea of just shooting all his actors on a green screen and then creating the entire world afterwards so that he never has to go outside of a studio. Ugh! Give me old fashioned soundstage sets and location shoots any day. :)

[Old Guy]

Eva Mendes naked gets a "thumbs up" from me

I thought this movie was PG-13. :confused:

[Space Cadet]

I thought this movie was PG-13. :confused:

You can show nudity in PG-13 movies.

[Old Guy]

You can show nudity in PG-13 movies.

Since when? Unless it's someone's butt for a few seconds. But breasts...I can't think of a PG-13 movie to do that since Titanic in `97.

[Kolbar]

Since when? Unless it's someone's butt for a few seconds. But breasts...I can't think of a PG-13 movie to do that since Titanic in `97.And that's all it was. We see her butt for a few seconds and that's it.

[Dukect45]

And that's all it was. We see her butt for a few seconds and that's it.
ya know when i think about it the spirit is a bad porno with no sex in it

[Old Guy]

And that's all it was. We see her butt for a few seconds and that's it.

When someone mentioned nudity I was thinking of the scene in the trailer when she takes off her towel and you get a little bit of boob action. So, I assumed you saw everything in the actual movie. But, yea, a butt isn't nudity to me. To me nudity is boobs. lol.


ya know when i think about it the spirit is a bad porno with no sex in it

This is the second movie Scarlett Johansson has done this year that can be called that. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was the biggest tease ever.

[Ragebot]

This is the second movie Scarlett Johansson has done this year that can be called that. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was the biggest tease ever.

Ah well, we'll always have Match Point. :nurse:

[Hanshotfirst113]

When someone mentioned nudity I was thinking of the scene in the trailer when she takes off her towel and you get a little bit of boob action. So, I assumed you saw everything in the actual movie. But, yea, a butt isn't nudity to me. To me nudity is boobs. lol.

When I saw the trailer, I admit to being surprised that the movie managed to swing a PG-13 rating.


This is the second movie Scarlett Johansson has done this year that can be called that. Vicky Cristina Barcelona was the biggest tease ever.

Wasn't that also PG-13? I didn't even hear that she was going to do one for that.

Ah well, we'll always have Match Point. :nurse:

I think that she was born in the wrong decade. She looks just like a 1940s film noir femme fatale.

[G. Wen]

Has anyone read strips of The Spirit? How similiar is that to the movie? The reason I ask that is because I felt like Miller wanted a close as feel recreation of the strip. Many of the lines sound like over the top dialogue one would read from a 1940's pulp comic strip. The characters certainly behaved that way. Also, the Nazi scenes. Facism was a real threat in the 1940's, and many comics incorporated the threat into their story lines. It's almost like Miller wanted to divorce the movie as much as possible from today's existance. This did create rather clunky moments at times.

Overall, I enjoyed it as a fun popcorn flick. I enjoyed it's dated feel. Many critics who claim this is the worst movie of the year obviously forgot about Diaster Movie, though I wouldn't blame them for repressing memories of that movie.

[SaMaster14]

I actually kinda liked this movie. It was a good movie to watch for fun... though, there were some confusing parts. I mean, its supposed to take place like 50 years ago, yet they had internet and a flip screen cell phone with a keyboard(that looked kinda like an LG EnV or something) lol.

[Damien]

Easily the best comic book movie of the year. Easily.

I may feel differently after reading a Spirit comic, but as for this movie alone, I'm going to love it and most likely buy it on Day 1.

Now, there were a few lines of bad dialogue, but I thought they were balanced out by the few great lines. The only things that really didn't feel right were, well....why did they dress up as Nazis? I thought after seeing the preview that they would tie it in somehow, but no, not even a loose connection. Also, come on, Miller, an Elektra Complex? I get that Saref's ripoff has a Greek name and that it's probably a valid complex, but come come now. Was that fair?

Still, amazing. Best of 2008.

[Dukect45]

Easily the best comic book movie of the year. Easily.



The Dark Knight says hi

[MM54]

Easily the best comic book movie of the year. Easily.

I may feel differently after reading a Spirit comic, but as for this movie alone, I'm going to love it and most likely buy it on Day 1.

Now, there were a few lines of bad dialogue, but I thought they were balanced out by the few great lines. The only things that really didn't feel right were, well....why did they dress up as Nazis? I thought after seeing the preview that they would tie it in somehow, but no, not even a loose connection. Also, come on, Miller, an Elektra Complex? I get that Saref's ripoff has a Greek name and that it's probably a valid complex, but come come now. Was that fair?

Still, amazing. Best of 2008.

...are you being sarcastic? I'm seriously just curious cause I really liked the movie too and I thought I might've been alone. XD

[The Weed Of Cri]

Can we get one thing out of the way and admit that Frank Miller has no damn business either writing or directing movies. His only real talent - depicting the ugliness of humanity - may be effective in the small doses of comic book, but it fails in a 90-minute drama that needs a prolonged sense of depth and substance to work. The "lighter moments" of The Spirit fell flat with a thud and lay there (that is, when Miller wasn't whipping the dead horse - such as the entire painfully unfunny business with the clones), and his attempts at deeper characterizations rang hollow. Samuel L. Jackson needed someone to rein in his scenery chewing, and Miller wasn't that someone (although I must admit, I found myself thinking Afro Samurai might actually have been watchable if Jackson had brought some of his "Spirit" energy to that phoned-in role), leaving his entire performance more of an intrusion than a part of the story.

[Wonderwall]

The Dark Knight says hi

People are entitled to their opinions. That being said, this movie was trash.

[Hanshotfirst113]

Can we get one thing out of the way and admit that Frank Miller has no damn business either writing or directing movies.

I said this a page ago.


His only real talent - depicting the ugliness of humanity - may be effective in the small doses of comic book, but it fails in a 90-minute drama that needs a prolonged sense of depth and substance to work.Miller is (or was) good at some things. He's a stylist. He loves to pastiche thing together. Combing a noir and manga look with superhero comics, at depicting things an interesting atheistic way, to a certain extent at deconstructing a genre, etc. But I think that all of what he once did that was exciting has since become stale, and he continues to repeat it. Can he please do something other than his noir schtick now? Really, anything? His grim and grittiness was interesting when it had a point. These days, it's so abstracted from anything, it's just become dull adolescent fantasy.

[Damien]

The Dark Knight says hi
I actually stopped taking its calls for a few months, but to be fair, I went out and bought it today.

...are you being sarcastic? I'm seriously just curious cause I really liked the movie too and I thought I might've been alone. XD

I was not, and I'm a little surprised this movie wasn't better received.

[Ajax]

Easily the best comic book movie of the year. Easily.Nah bro I would have to disagree on "easily best comic book movie of the year" title. I mean your talking about The Hulk, Ironman, TDK, Wanted, Hellboy, even Punisher. I mean, take your pick............reviews, box office gross, how long the movie stayed in theaters, all across the board the Spirit is proally gonna go down as one of the worst comic book movies (not to mention flops) of 08. Im not gonna rag on you for liking it and it is your opinion, which is cool.........but to say its easily the best comic book movie of the year, come on.

[Damien]

Nah bro I would have to disagree on "easily best comic book movie of the year" title. I mean your talking about The Hulk, Ironman, TDK, Wanted, Hellboy, even Punisher. I mean, take your pick............reviews, box office gross, how long the movie stayed in theaters, all across the board the Spirit is proally gonna go down as one of the worst comic book movies (not to mention flops) of 08. Im not gonna rag on you for liking it and it is your opinion, which is cool.........but to say its easily the best comic book movie of the year, come on.
I loved The Incredible Hulk, but it lacked the finesse of The Spirit. Hulk was so awesome, though.
Iron Man's villain was so weak, the climax was deflating, but Tony Stark was great. I liked it, but I didn't buy it.
Not only did Wanted look awful, but skipping it was a no-brainer when I heard the very cool premise of the comic and compared it to the generic movie plot. Jolie, and box office receipts, for that matter, just means that that many people went to see it, not that the movie was actually good.
Hellboy II and Punisher: War Zone? I wasn't interested in the former, and the latter was out of theaters before I could go see it.
Spare me with The Dark Knight. It was awfully cool, and I like it more now than I used to, but come on. Everybody calm down.
I'm not saying all this to start one big talkback, but to make a point. I don't care about receipts or reviews. If Superman III happened to be deemed the best comic book movie of all time, but you hated Superman III, then to you it would not the best of all time.
But I'll rephrase. Out of all the comic book movies I saw in 2008, I enjoyed The Spirit the most and liked it the best upon initial viewing.

[Young Justice]

I've read a lot of reviews from a lot of people around here. Some were good, most of it were bad. I was interested in seeing this movie, but now I'm having my doubts.

I still like the visuals. I love Sin City, and I think Miller work very well in that kind of universe. I hated the pheromones idea, and I didn't liked when people started to talk about the shallowness of the movie, but...

What if this piece of film is supposed to be watched without taking itself seriously? You guys, who watched, if you knew it was some kind of pastiche, it would be fun instead?

[TheVileOne]

If it's all supposed to be one big joke, whatever. I guess I don't have a sense of humor.

But I mean, I think that was the whole problem with the crud like Batman and Robin.

I thought we wanted these movies to be smarter again.

The thing is, even if you don't take it seriously it is still boring as all get out. When the Spirit is telling the Octopus how boring everything is, it was one of the most unintentionally relevant lines in the history of cinema.

Very little seems to be going on and actually happening in the movie. And the stuff that does go on is absolutely mind-bogglingly head scratchingly bad.

The Spirit as a character was a serious world and stories. It was the Spirit himself who just didn't take himself too seriously really.

[dmxx116]

This movie will be dead in two weeks just like War Zone.

[Old Guy]

This movie will be dead in two weeks just like War Zone.

If not less.

[Goodfellow]

Wow, you guys seem like you wanted to hate this movie just to hate it. Sure, the plot could have been better, but I just wanted entertainment, not Dark Knight quality writing, and that is exactly what I got. Shakespear it is not, but phenomally entertaining it was.

[Movie06]

Wow, you guys seem like you wanted to hate this movie just to hate it.

That's what I was thinking when I was reading this thread as well.

[Old Guy]

Wow, you guys seem like you wanted to hate this movie just to hate it.


That's what I was thinking when I was reading this thread as well.

This only applies to Vile One. Everyone else is being honest. Personally...I haven't seen the movie yet. I was planning to, but since everyone (in life, on the Internet, and critics) seem to dislike it I put it on my Netflix queue instead. Which is the same thing I did with Punisher: War Zone.

[screw on head]

On the whole I didn't think this film was too bad... having said that, this was an amazingly lackluster but typical [post-Sin City comics] Frank Miller story.

There's an arrogance to Frank's writing in recent years that's very frustrating, even though I do I kind of enjoy it. I'm always amazed at what little care he gives to his overall story choices... you just know that he understands that he's making story choices that are going to drive fans nuts but he doesn't care and does it anyway. There's something to be said for that and its kind of cool that does he does that on one level, but on another, he has to realize that a certain amount of consideration has to be given to fans. I think Miller could benefit immensely by reading fan reactions to his work and addressing his short comings but that's something he's never and doubt ever will express interest in. This film is an absolutely perfect example of Frank writing for Frank and I think the film suffers tremendously from that.

One perfect scene of that is Spirit's first fight with The Octopus. I thought that scene absolutely fell flat on its face and didn't at all accomplish what it appears he wanted to, even though it does to a degree. It establishes that the two are in a deadlock and that both absolutely cannot resist going at eachother when the opporitunity arises... but the scene is overwhelmed and suffocated by how over-the-top and campy its played. The ridiculousness of it absolutely smothers what's at the base of it, and you almost wonder how much Miller is aware of that... if he cares that he's indulging in his own eccentricities of style rather than serving not just the story but something as small, simple and as important as getting just one scene across correctly.

I think that's the major vice in this movie - Miller cannot nail each scene down correctly... some he gets right like the flashback scenes where you know he's trying to hit the nail on the head for those scenes (which he does every effectively) and others scenes that he totally neglects like the first Octopus fight or many of Sam Jackson's scenes.

I thought visually the film was amazing. Compositionally he did an absolutely amazing job, and I thought most of the cuts work really well... I really only took issue with small bits here and there but thats true for any movie. I didn't mind how close the film looked to Sin City... I think it would've helped Frank to have Lynn Varley come in and maybe color key his storyboards, I think that would've benefitted the look of the film greatly, as Lynn's always a saving grace for his artwork.

It's a shame this didnt perform at the box office but I can absolutely see why. Frank's taken the same thick headed approach to this film as I think he does all his recent works. If Miller wants to have staying power as a director he needs to step back from himself and realize what goes into making a film, which is an immensely collaborative process and not so much akin to his solo efforts of making graphic novels. There were some glariing bits in this film that I think could've been curbed had he not been relying so much on his own sensibilities and turned to others for input.

If Frank doesn't come around to what makes other filmmakers successful, what goes into a movie to make it something with broad appeal that respects film conventions, then Miller will forever be a niche film director that may as well go to back to comics and pander to fans that come back to him for punishment work after work, because I doubt movie-goers will do the same if he continues to deliver works like this...

[Road to Gotham]

I found THE SPIRIT to be mostly unentertaining. It BORED me.
I thought the Denny-Sand background story to be the best part of the film
Visuals, Dialogue, Set pieces were all badly done.
D+

[dmxx116]

Frank Miller I do not want to see you make damn film as long us fans lives you're to sick in the head when you making pics.

[MM54]

...alright, I guess I'll be this guy...

Um... dmxx... what did that have to do with anything? Seriously, Frank Miller had a vision for his film, some people liked it and others didn't and that's basically where that discussion ends. Why revive a thread just to, in turn, revive a conversation that is long irrelevant?

...btw, the movie comes out on DVD on April 14th. Just thought I'd throw that in there to keep this post a bit relevant.

[dmxx116]

...alright, I guess I'll be this guy...

Um... dmxx... what did that have to do with anything? Seriously, Frank Miller had a vision for his film, some people liked it and others didn't and that's basically where that discussion ends. Why revive a thread just to, in turn, revive a conversation that is long irrelevant?

...btw, the movie comes out on DVD on April 14th. Just thought I'd throw that in there to keep this post a bit relevant.I'll say it one more time Frank Miller has no damn Vision as a filmmaker he should stick to doing comic books were his sick mind belong.

[Knight]

I use to think Catwoman was the worst movie based on a comic character. But not anymore. It has been replaced by the Spirit. This movie is unwatchable and I can usually sit through anything. I dont know whats up with Frank Miller.