A critical and commercial failure, ‘The Spirit’ — directed by Frank Miller and released on Christmas Day, Dec. 25th (2008) is a neo-noir film about a detective turned caped-crusader who fights crime with the power of near invincibility and a natural gift for thwarting those responsible for acts of brazen lawlessness. Scarlett Johanssen, Samuel Jackson, Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, and Sarah Paulson comprise the main cast.
This movie is a “trip”.
It is wacked out, off-the-hook, cartoonish, and wholeheartedly and unabashedly campy. A unique take on a lesser known comic by Will Eisner – ‘The Spirit’ seems to utilize clear visual inspiration from Frank Miller’s previous blockbuster adaptations:
‘Sin City’ & ‘300’.
Stylistically speaking, ‘The Spirit’ absolutely has a winning look and feel to it and some striking similarities to Miller’s previous offerings but ultimately it fails to reach the cinematic heights of his other films – despite employing starpower and some truly awe-inducing visuals. But on a positive note: Frank Miller’s use of green screen is really refreshing. Similar to my recent rewatch of Peter Jackson’s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, it reminds me how promising the early years of the technology was; before over-adoption, when people started to rely on it for everything under the sun and use it in scenarios where practical FX would be more advantageous.
Nowadays cheap green screen effects run rampant: becoming more of a gimmick than a tool, as a result.
I feel some essential elements (namely characterization) must have been lost during the translation to a different medium. I have read some of Miller’s run on “Daredevil” and the entirety of the TDKR (The Dark Knight Returns) graphic novel — but have not read his other properties. His writing and artwork are extremely high calibre; he helped popularize “adult themes in comic books” which while being an advent of the 80s continues to this day.
Sadly, he is not working with his own intellectual property here – but instead attempting to reinvigorate a golden age hero that began as a newspaper comic strip, a là ‘Dick Tracy’, a not dissimilar action movie with film noir look & feel, also based on a character created for a newspaper’s “funnies” section. Warren Beaty had one helluva time reimagining that retro comic strip for the big screen; and the results were a mixed bag for sure.
Kate Erbland of VanityFair.com wrote on June 15th/2010
“You know where to look in Dick Tracy, and when you do, you see a comic strip. Despite the glut of comic-book-based films at the box office, few features have used such styling to stellar effect, though the 300 series and the Sin City franchise have certainly tried, with mixed results. Both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Warner Bros.’ DC Comics films have balked at making their comic-book movies look like comic books, instead opting for all that dark and gritty stuff, so rooted to reality and so often disinterested in acknowledging the medium that spawned their stories.
Dick Tracy ultimately pulled in mixed reviews—Roger Ebert gave it four stars and praised its comic-strip artificiality, even comparing it to Batman, writing that the film “is a sweeter, more optimistic movie, [and] outdoes even Batman in the visual departments.” Others weren’t as kind, and Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers derided the feature as “a great big beautiful bore.” (Hey, at least he thought it was pretty.)
Beatty’s film ended up being nominated for seven Oscars—the most ever for any comic-book film at the time, and a pack that included nods for both Pacino and Storaro” [1]
At times, ‘The Spirit’ employs filmmaking choices so outlandish and experimental it hampers suspension of disbelief – more than a little bit. This is very much in line with the Dick Tracy picture from 1990, both films struggle to create an equilibrium between the disparate aspects of the film; tone, plot structure, characterization, overall narrative, pacing, and editing. The stylistic choices, from wardrobe, set-design, makeup/prosthetics, special FX, lighting, cinematography, etc are very much on point in both films. I would argue that both ‘Dick Tracey’ and ‘The Spirit’ are extremely visually stunning, and also employ some truly avant-garde choices – showing that the filmmakers’ decisions were not moored to the mundane or commercial.
Where these films really fail is tone:
Often, I caught myself asking if the overall comedic slant was intended; or just a by-product of a more serious tone being left behind, as the project gradually became more of a self-aware parody rather than an earnest attempt at adapting the source material.
Miller’s writing always has a healthy dose of the supernatural/fantastical present in it, his noir-thrillers contain bizarre elements aplenty, yet this movie goes in such a strange direction that I felt I was watching a student art-piece at points – which isn’t to say that is a wholly bad thing; it just means that the experimental aspects of ‘The Spirit’ probably didn’t win over the average movie goer in 2008. And in all honesty, there are plenty of sequences that just don’t make a lick o’ sense, no matter how hard you try to forgive the hyperrealism present in the film.
‘The Spirit’, for all purposes, is a live-action cartoon – so attempting to apply too much “plot logic” or investing yourself deeply in the characters isn’t really conducive to a good viewing experience.
Take this film – as it is – and it’s not as bad as some of the critics would have you believe.
Final Thoughts:
Lots of scenery chewing performances, a dazzling display of visuals in black & white, fails to capture the “lightening in a bottle” of Miller’s previous hit ‘Sin City’ but still offers a lot of creative choices on screen – not a perfect film, but it does show a filmmaker who isn’t afraid to push the envelope.
‘The Spirit’
____________
Rating
5.5/10
Sources:
[1] Dick Tracy Turns 25: Why Has Everyone Forgotten the Original Prestige Comic Book Movie?
By: Kate Erbland (for VanityFair.com)
JUNE 15, 2015