Keeping in "The Spirit" of Things

Miller's take on the graphic novel breaks the mould

BY EMIL TIEDEMANN

It seems that we've become immune to movies that venture off the beaten path, films that don't fit squarely into an applicable genre. They must follow a cookie-cutter script and directorial manifesto in order to even be considered a "must see," such as with most of the "Americanized" movies that we watch year-round. This rings true with one film currently in theatres, The Spirit, which dares to reconfigure the norm, with offbeat humour, unorthodox cinematography, and subtly alluring characters that don't need to win Oscars in order to captivate us into hoping for a sequel.

Set in what seems an ambiguous time period (characters play with Blackberry-type gadgets, yet drive around in old-school cars and use vocabulary that was probably common in the '30s or '40s), in a New York-styled metropolis known as Central City, Frank Miller's The Spirit is shot in the same vein as another recent comic book adaptation, Sin City, though this one uses a lighter tone to convey its plot. Not surprisingly, Sin City was Miller's directorial debut, in a joint endeavour with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino.

Little-known Gabriel Macht does come off generic at times as a former by-the-book cop who mysteriously parishes only to resurrect as the film's heroic namesake, but graces us with an unusual charisma at others, and co-star Samuel L. Jackson lends his one-of-a-kind screen presence as The Spirit's nemesis The Octopus. And let's not forget about the ladies that keep The Spirit on its toes. Latino vixen Eva Mendes dominates every scene she's in, and Scarlett Johansson braves the cold with a stiff, yet enjoyable, role as Jackson's evil sidekick. Even Stana Katic, who plays an underestimated rookie cop, brings subtle charm to her short time onscreen, as do the countless simple-minded clones portrayed by TV vet Louis Lombardi.

I'm sure that Miller--who also adapted the screenplay--never set out to capture awards or garner excessive critical praise when he agreed to bring The Spirit to the big screen, but rather to maintain a trend of off-colour comic book-based features that offer an alternative to the Spider-Man's and Batman's of the Hollywood machine (both of which are superb franchises). And in the case of The Spirit, I'm glad he is.

4/5 stars

Emotionless Spirit

When I heard Frank Miller was going to write and direct The Spirit, I wasn’t sure what to think. The story of a cop that died yet mysteriously resurrected as the Spirit (Macht) trying to protect Central City from the villainous Octopus (Jackson). The first trailer made me curious about it but the next one lost me. Still with the style of 300 and Sin City, how could I not go check the film out?

The Spirit was shot just like Frank Miller’s collaboration effort Sin City. And the cinematography was absolutely gorgeous. From the opening scene of the Spirit running through the city, with his white shoes and red tie you could tell this movie was going to be a beauty to watch. The design of the city and costumes fit well in the film. I really didn’t know what to think after the opening sequence was finished though. Is the movie making fun of itself? The film looked like it was being shot so dark and serious, but how can you take it so serious with the dialogue being delivered? Snappy one liners and over the top acting takes you out of the film. Some of the one liners are quite funny and work but for everyone line that works two more fail. As the plot moved forward or in this case 6 directions at once you weren’t sure what you were watching. I couldn’t tell if it was going to be a love story, action film, crime drama or a mix of all three. And the lack of emotion makes you care nothing about what happens to the characters. In a few scenes where there is an awkward meeting there should be a lack of emotion, but later in the film you want that emotion on screen between the characters and it just isn’t there. The pacing of the movie was off as well. When you get a little pace going it was thrown off due to long dialogue between characters of flashback scenes.

The casting is one of the few things done well. The femme fatale that Eva Mendes played steals the show away from Samuel L. Jackson and Gabriel Macht, not that they failed in there parts. While Jackson and Johansson seemed to have good chemistry together, it wasn’t there for Macht and Mendes or Macht and Jackson. Louis Lombardi also played a cameo as the many clones of the Octopus quite well albeit his shtick was overused right until the credits rolled. The movie wasn’t a complete failure but after it finished I still didn’t understand the reason for a good chunk of the scenes I had just watched. Maybe a directors cut will come out on DVD that could make more sense of the jumbled plot, but until that time I wouldn’t recommend this movie to anyone unless you like watching crisp visuals and over the top acting.

2 out of 5 stars
Colin Enquist