The Spirit is a 2008 neo-noir superhero film directed by Frank Miller, starring Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Dan Lauria, Paz Vega, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson. Murdered in the line of duty, Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) is resurrected, cleaning the streets of crime-infested Central City as superhero The Spirit who finds his nemesis in a murderous supervillain, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson).

The story is interesting to say the least. A superhero (I guess) with enhanced strength and healing tries to stop a villain with the same powers from achieving godhood and taking over the world. This is ultimately a forgettable movie. It starts off interestingly enough with the Spirit trying to foil the Octopus’ plans (which systematically introducing all the players) but it gets kind of slow with boring exposition of the Spirit and an overly complicated plot. I can say that the story was okay. Yes, it’s an interesting premise, however the execution leaves much to be desired.

There are no interesting twists, no real character arcs, really no interesting moments. The ending was just plain anti-climatic despite the over-the-top nature of it. Maybe had the Octopus achieved his godhood and the good guys had to band together to stop him could the ending have been better. But no. Really the most stand out arc is the relationship between The Spirit and Sand which a good majority of the story. It felt like watching the back and forth between Batman and Catwoman. (2 out of 5)

The characters for the most part are good. I do not like the main protagonist the Spirit. He’s bland, not interesting in the least bit. Really the most interesting aspect of the character is his relationship with the other characters. I had more fun with the villains Octopus and Silken Floss and the cloned henchmen. They had really good chemistry together and great back and forths with his over-the-top personality balanced by her flat one. Sand was a great character. Yes, the typical femme fatale but cool. She felt like a mix between Catwoman and Irene Adler. I liked Morgenstern, she kind of reminded me of Huxley (Sandra Bullock) from Demolition Man. Just a fun character who’s literally given nothing to do.

I liked Ellen and her father and their relationship. Just about everybody in this movie is far more interesting than the Spirit himself. Perhaps the only other person that sucked as much as the Spirit was Plaster of Paris. She’s literally in the movie for no fucking reason. She’s suppose to be an assassin or a hitman or something but she doesn’t do anything except betray the villains for no other reason than plot armor. Sure the characters are caricatures but I did enjoy them. (3 out of 5)

I can actually say that I’ve really enjoyed the cast and the performances. The film has some of the best in the business. Although Gabriel Macht (the Spirit) plays the titular character, it’s Samuel L. Jackson’s performance as the Octopus that steals the show. Of course, he plays himself but it works so well for the character. I’ve always enjoyed Scarlett Johansson (Floss) as an actress and I like how she has great chemistry with Jackson. It was like watching an over-the-top, unstable evil Nick Fury and a less actiony, less emotional evil Black Widow. Eva Mendes is just a sexy woman and I do like how they utilize her sexuality and acting skills for the character of Sand. She just fits the role. I really enjoyed Dan Lauria (Dolan), I liked Stana Katic (Morgenstern), and I really enjoyed Sarah Paulson (Ellen). But I can’t forget Louis Lombardi as the cloned henchmen. He brought a lot of great humor. (3 out of 5)

Visually The Spirit is a really impressive looking movie. It definitely feels like a mix of Sin City, Dick Tracy, and the Green Hornet. It’s got that stylized comic book feel not only with the lack of color (which Sin City did so well) but it’s the transitions, the overall color scheme. However, like other movies that have this type of design, there can be moments of a serious overuse of CGI. Just blatantly CGI for no reason. I can say that the film successfully captures the neo noir feel. I love the scenes where the Spirit is running across the roofs as a dark silhoutte with only his shoes and tie showing. (4 out of 5)

I can say that I did enjoy the musical composition by David Newman. I thought he brought as much style to the film as Bill Pope did with the cinematography. I liked that it managed to be bring the thrilling noir feel but added some pretty sweet heroic themes. (3 out of 5)

I’ve been a fan of some of Frank Miller’s work (the movies more than the comics as I haven’t read them) and he’s got his hand more than a few comic book movies (live action and animated) but he completely missed the ball with this movie. For as much as I did like the visuals, the score, and the characters, the movie lacks emotion, lacks soul, lacks fullfillment. For one thing, the editing should’ve been handled better especially with the problem with info dumping. Things that the audience should figure out or the film should gradually reveal, characters just say it for no reason. No buildup. No time to process what’s going on. There’s this one scene where the Spirit is monologuing a flashback and it just feels unnecassary. Another scene that’s unnecessary is when Sand pushes the Spirit out the window and he’s swinging from statue to statue. Why is this scene in the movie?

The characters feel like they’re in the Spirit’s world and that he’s not in their world. There are plotholes that make absolutely no sense. How did the Octopus and Sand’s chests even end up in the same place to be mixed up? The Octopus was a coroner so of all the dead bodies he could’ve experimented with Denny’s was the only one he went with. Why did the Octopus hire Plaster of Paris when Floss captured him so easily? I did not like the direction, I did not like the editing, I didn’t mind the dialogue although most of it was either corny or trying to be substantial. (2 out of 5)

In the end, The Spirit is a bit of a mixed bag. I haven’t read the comics so I don’t know how well it compares but surely it’s better than this movie. Now, it’s not all bad. There is some enjoyment to the film. There are some interesting characters, it’s interesting premise, and the look and sound are definitely good. However, the film is hurt but its weak protagonist, convoluted plot, terrible writing, lackluster action, overuse of CGI, poor direction, and poor editing. The Spirit gets 3 out of 5. Honestly, this movie could’ve easily been lowered and probably should be. I would not reccommend watching this movie unless you like the noir comic setting, the sexy Mendez, or Jackson’s over-the-top performance.