Director: Frank Miller (Sin City)Cast: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Star Wars, Coach Carter), Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Match Point), Eva Mendes (Hitch, Ghost Rider), Sarah Paulson (Deadwood), Paz Vega (Spanglish)
The Deal: Denny Colt, a rookie cop who was killed in action, is brought back as The Spirit (Macht), a masked hero to protect the city capable of taking almost any beating. The Octopus (Jackson), with the help of his leading lady Silken Floss (Johansson), are after an artifact that will make him even more powerful, killing anyone who gets in their way. Unfortunately, Sand Saref (Mendes) steals the artifact before The Octopuss can, and The Spirit sets out to stop who ever is making trouble.
Thoughts: Having brought us Sin City and 300, I was quite excited when I first saw the trailer for Miller's latest work. As the release date loomed closer, I became worried when the film was panned by pretty much every critic imaginable, causing me to put off seeing it for a while. Sadly, critics were right.
The biggest complaint circulating was the large amounts of dialogue mixed with very little action, but that doesn't necessarily mean a disaster if the dialogue is engaging. Unfortunately, the dialogue was long, boring, and very corny. The action sequences more of the same type Frank Miller tends to do, but poorly executed. The style itself is growing old, there's too much of it out there. Limited action is fine so long as it is fresh, which this wasn't.
The acting was very unimpressive, though I'm not sure if it was the weak script or just bad acting, but I tend to lean towards it being both. The Spirit was fairly interesting, but his dialogue was just more of the same over and over, and The Octopus wasn't very menacing or believable, which is a waste of Samuel L Jackson's talent for such a thing. The leading ladies, and there were many of them, were all pretty to look at, but everything else about their performances was forgettable.
Verdict: Though the ending was actually pretty decent, the slew of problems dogging the rest of the film are far too apparent to overlook. See it if you must, but try and borrow it from a friend to save you the money. ☆☆
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