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Frank Miller is a whole lot of things—but, first and foremost, he’s a graphic novelist. He’s the guy responsible for the dark and stylish graphic novels that turn into visually stunning movies like Sin City and 300 (and, well, Daredevil). But, after seeing his latest movie, The Spirit, I think it’s safe to say that there’s at least one thing that Frank Miller is not: a director.
Based on the graphic novel series by Will Eisner, The Spirit follows cop-turned-superhero Denny Colt, a.k.a. The Spirit (Gabriel Macht), as he defends Central City from his evil (and apparently insane) nemesis, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), and his band of idiot clones (all played by Louis Lombardi).
In order to make himself invincible—so he can destroy The Spirit and take over Central City once and for all—The Octopus needs to get his hands on an ancient vase that’s filled with the blood of the Greek hero Heracles. But his worthless clones have a problem with the delivery, and the vase ends up in the hands of bling-obsessed Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), who’s looking for some treasure of her own. The Spirit is determined to stop The Octopus from executing his evil plan—but things get complicated when he finds out that Sand, his long-lost first love, is caught in the middle.
When it comes to art direction, The Spirit is stunning—although, if you’ve seen Sin City (which Miller co-directed with Robert Rodriguez), it’s really nothing new. It’s mostly done in Miller’s signature black and white, with those striking splashes of vibrant red, giving it that cool, graphic novel feel. Sure, the look is predictable, but it’s still pretty striking. I’ll give him that much.
But while Miller makes a great art director, he makes a terrible writer/director. The story itself isn’t all that bad, but the dialogue overshoots campy and lands somewhere on the far side of downright ridiculous. The film gets bogged down in endless exposition, and The Spirit spends most of the movie sitting around, telling his long, long life story (or explaining his feelings) to any old alley cat that’ll listen (seriously—the guy’s constantly talking to cats).
It seems as though Miller was so obsessed with making the movie look cool that he lost interest in everything else. As a result, the movie is filled with scenes that have absolutely no purpose—other than to look hip and comic-book-y. It’s pretty clear that the cast members, too, were left to fend for themselves—because very few of them seem to know what they’re doing.
Even Sam Jackson—who tends to make ridiculously over-the-top movies (like Snakes on a Plane) fun to watch—can’t really save this big, crazy mess. As The Octopus himself would say, it’s just “plain damn weird.” And that makes The Spirit a movie that only a fanboy could love.
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