The Spirit

The Spirit was one of the first landmark comic book characters in history. Created by Will Eisner, it was a Sunday supplement in newspapers and then its own comic book. Many comic book artists and writers today venerate it as a forerunner of the golden age of comic books. One of them is Frank Miller, creator of The Dark Knight, Sin City and 300. Miller directed the film version of Eisner's character, and as the saying goes, he shouldn't quit his day job.

The Spirit is at the same time visually spectacular and relentlessly stupid. As with the film versions of Sin City and 300, it seems that the creators assumed the look was everything, and to hell with a story. Or perhaps there was too much reverence shown to Eisner's stories in the 40s. After all, old-time comic books have a lot of charm, but they weren't known for being literary classics.

The Spirit is Denny Colt, a cop who was killed and then revived by a serum that makes him impervious to damage (he's something like Wolverine from Marvel Comics). He makes a dashing appearance with an all black ensemble, complete with fedora and eye-mask, except for a vivid red tie. He patrols his city, Central City, and protects it as if it were a woman, referring to it in the feminine with voice-overs like, "She screams. My city needs me."

The Spirit's arch-enemy is The Octopus, so named for his fashion of having eight of everything. He is played with octane by Samuel L. Jackson, and Miller seems to have let him do anything he wanted. The Octopus is after a vase full of blood from the Greek god Heracles, which would give him immortality. He is assisted by Silken Floss (Scarlet Johannson, still wooden) and a series of cloned henchmen that look like Curly Joe from the Three Stooges. The third element of this rather feeble story is Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), Colt's childhood sweetheart who is now an international jewel thief.

It seems harsh to say, but you can't just lift things from pulp comic books from sixty years ago and making them seem fresh today. I mean, names like Silken Floss, Sand Saref, and Plaster of Paris (a belly-dancer with swords, played by Paz Vega) may have seemed clever back then but today they are groaners. And before I forget, Gabriel Macht brought zero charisma to the title role.

I did love the visual style, though. It's very similar to Sin City, largely monochromatic, except for the Spirit's tie. There's a lot of negative imagery, with dark areas rendered in white, and light areas in dark. However, there are many images that are completely wasted, such as the Spirit and the Octopus having a cartoonish fight in a swamp. One of the weapons used, no lie, is a toilet. I think that's an apt metaphor for this film, because it's completely disposable.