Director: Frank Miller
Starring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson & Eva Mendes
An example of style over substance, The Spirit is a comic book adaptation that is visually appealing but lacks similar appeal in its story, its characters or in the performances of its stars, all of which are thinner than the paper its source material was originally printed on.
Frank Miller, the director of The Spirit, is a legend within the comic book industry. Miller helped revitalize superhero comics in the 1980s with The Dark Knight Returns, a tale of Batman’s final days that was dark and gritty in tone and, alongside Alan Moore’s Watchmen, was a significant work in bringing a mature, adult tone to superhero comics and in demonstrating to the world at large that comics were a medium that was greater than the stereotypes of them being just for children had suggested. In addition to The Dark Knight Returns, Miller revitalized Daredevil for Marvel Comics (also creating the character of Elektra) and then the series of acclaimed Crime Noir comics dubbed Sin City throughout the 1990s. With the success of a film adaptation of Sin City in 2005, in which Frank Miller moved onto film direction alongside Robert Rodriguez, and the successful adaptation of another Miller work in 300 in 2007, Frank Miller has found himself in the position to further change the way comic-to-film adaptations are made and received as he once had the opportunity to do with comics themselves in the 1980s and 90s. However, if The Spirit, which is Miller’s first solo directorial effort, is any indication then Miller’s career in film is off to a poor start.
Adapting the, Will Eisner created, character of The Spirit for the big screen, Miller’s biggest flaw is that instead of capturing the tone and style of the actual comics, he instead adapts the comics in his own style, as seen in the adaptations of Sin City and even 300 with the use of entirely CGI created environments and the presentation of the casts as caricatures rather than as characters. From gruff hero, over-sexualized Femme Fatales and a villain whose every action is evil, The Spirit is a film that is dominated by cliché after cliché. Only rarely though, do any of the cliché’s result in worthwhile entertainment. A tongue-in-cheek approach to the conventions of Film Noir does result in some, momentarily entertaining sequences. Macht’s performance as The Spirit, playing it straight, works quite well as the character interacts with the Police Commissioner or other Policemen, though the performance suffers when Macht is in the presence of a more OTT performance such as Samuel L. Jackson’s as the villain The Octopus. The approach to female characters too, while often bordering offensive in their portrayal of women as sexualized fantasy figures, can also sometimes results in fun moments such as a gung-ho rookie cop named Morgenstern who is a joy to watch and the occasional pun offered at the right moment (a “perfect ass” comment during a scene with a photocopier) being funny in spite of its obviousness.
Unfortunately, despite the tongue-in-cheek approach occasionally making the overuse of cliché acceptable, it fails to redeem the performance of Samuel L. Jackson or the portrayal of his character The Octopus. The Octopus in the comic books was a villain that was never seen, always lurking in the background and manipulating events from a distance. In The Spirit film though, Miller decides to bring the villain out into the forefront and, as with his portrayal of the film’s hero and its female cast, he resorts to stereotype in the portrayal of this villain but with far more excess than is seen elsewhere in the film. Jackson’s performance fits the definition of OTT with glee, speaking as loudly as possible as often as possible whilst delivering dialogue suitable of a pantomime villain. Whether this performance is due to Jackson or Miller’s wishes is unknown but the result is that, the usually entertaining Jackson is the weakest element in a film that is already lacking depth or originality.
Overall, while visually interesting, using the same visual style used for Sin City focusing on thick shadows, and heavy use of black, white and red (The Spirit’s red tie being a visually appealing element) and also The Spirit occasionally succeeding in entertaining with its tongue-in-cheek manner, the film generally fails to deliver satisfaction in its actor’s performances, in their characterization or in its plot. Should Miller have the opportunity to direct further films, he could do well to remember that style is rarely an adequate substitute for substance.
Rating: 2/5
