Genre: Comic Book Adaptation, Action, Unintentional Comedy
Director: Frank Miller’s ego Starring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansen, Dan Lauria Time: 102 minutes (plus trailers)
When I first saw the trailer for The Spirit, Frank Millar’s adaptation of Will Eisner’s pulp comic strip, I characterised it as looking like Sin City crossed with a turd. Harsh words perhaps, but words that at the time I felt were true. But after having watched the film, I feel that I must man up and admit that I was wrong. Because I realise now that turds aren’t actually all that bad. We use manure to fertilize crops which will in turn feed millions of people. Dog poo can be placed in flaming paper bags on doorsteps for the amusement of individuals young and old. And our nations great sewers provide welcoming homes for rats, fish and homeless people alike. Yes, when you really think about it, shit is a wonderful thing with a myriad of uses. This is more than I can say for The Spirit.
Gabriel Macht plays the titular character, a masked vigilante who is somewhere between Batman and Dick Tracey. Each night he prowls the streets of Central City, fighting evil doers and miscreants. His nemesis is an evil Nazi scientist with the threatening moniker ‘The Octopus’; played by Samuel L Jackson, who is aided by two femme fatales with equally ridiculous names: Scarlett Johansson is Silken Floss and Eva Mendes is Sand Saref. The Villains end game? To get their hands on an urn filled with the blood of Heracles, which will render its drinker immortal. And so The Spirit, clad in hat, overcoat and a very snappy red tie attempts to foil the nefarious scheme before the baddies can…that’s right you guessed it…before they can take over the world.
One could call The Spirit the ultimate example of style over substance, except for the unfortunate fact that it has absolutely no style. Every single shot in the film tries so earnestly to be cool, and every single shot is an embarrising failure. The visual effects are awful without exception, and the way in which the costumes, the sets, the make up and the CGI so blatantly try to replicate Sin City is almost sad. The credits proudly declare that this juvenile, cartoonish disaster was written for the screen and directed by Frank Millar, a crime for which he should be hung without trial. He clearly has no idea what to do behind the camera, and it really is quite incredible that he was not fired after day one. But as atrocious as the look of the film is, it is nothing compared to the god forsaken script, which falls into a pathetic pit somewhere between serious film and all out parody. The dialogue is laughable, especially given that it is delivered completely straight faced by this terrible cast. Macht couldn’t act to save his life, and Sam Jackson…you have to see it to believe it. As he has demonstrated with his comic books, Millar is a huge misogynist, and the way the women act (not to mention dress) in this film makes absolutely no sense. Put simply, there is nothing redeeming in this entire black hole of a film. It is the worst thing ever. And I really enjoyed it.
I know I know. I’m a bad person. But I just had so much fun with this movie. I saw it with a bunch of friends on a stinking hot day in an almost empty theatre, and it was completely awesome. The amount of unintentional comedic gold that can be found in this movie is insane. Nothing in it can be taken seriously, which is made all the more funny due to the fact that the everyone involved desperately wants you to. Consider that thousands of people were involved in the creation of this behemoth-ian disaster, and not one of them stood up and said “wait a minute…this is completely shit.” It boggles the mind. I cannot in good conscience advocate paying $14 to see this in theatres, but if you’ve got a bunch of friends together and can get you’re hands on the DVD, then I highly recommend checking it out.
Especially if you have some drugs. Something tells me that would make it even better.
