I had low expectations for Frank Miller's adaptation of Will Eisner's The Spirit. The first time I saw a trailer for the movie I was instantly worried, gone was the cartoony style of The Spirit that masqueraded the violence in the comic book and in it's place we're given Sin City like effects that showcased the insane blood bath, but also distracted from the actual story making some scenes completely unwatchable.
There were definitely redeeming benefits to the movie as well. Samuel L Jackson cast as Octopus and Scarlett Johanson as his partner in crime, Silken Floss, were the ony things that kept me in the movie theater. Jackson's over the top antics and Johanson's deadpanned coolness saved the movie from totally bombing right off the bat. Add in Louis Lombardi's purposely stupid clone army, Phobos & Company, and you have a well defined team of villains with perfect comedic timing.
Sadly, the perfect villains were balanced with not so perfect heroes. At times Gabriel Macht's (Playing the title character of The Spirit) sarcastic wit and flirtatious banter would get lost in scenes that forced you to focus on his brilliantly white Chuck Taylors instead of the main plot, a fault that you can only blame on Miller's lack directorial experience, since the script from the movie seemed to be almost spot on for Eisner's vision of Central City.
Besides a few missing or combined elements (besides the obvious ocmission of Ebony White, The Spirit's living racial pun & the combination of The Octopus & Dr. Cobra) Frank Miller seemed to have written a script didn't suck, it's just too bad that Miller wasn't seasoned enough to focus on BOTH directing and writing.
All in all Frank Miller's vision of The Spirit seems to be a partial nightmare, but I keep telling myself it couold have been worse, he could have done The Rocketeer.
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