Author: Martina Fetzer

Overview: Frank Miller takes everything interesting about The Spirit and throws it in the trash, then spends an hour fantasizing about Eva Mendes. Lionsgate Films; 2008; Rated PG-13; 103 minutes. The Good: It’s a good thing Hollywood waited until Will Eisner was dead to produce this movie. The biggest positive note that I can offer is that he’ll never know what writer/director Frank Miller did to his most famous creation. I could also note that the style is visually striking, but being derivative of 300 and Sin City isn’t enough to save this abomination. The Bad: Where to begin? Will Eisner’s The Spirit is a comic that thrives on pathos; the characters’ struggles seem very real and the stories have a lot of heart. The film adaption, however, thrives on breasts: lots of breasts attached to mannequins posing as real characters. When these top heavy mannequins speak, they speak in soundbites.  They strike poses for the trailer and say, “Shut up and bleed!” and “Tell me, do I look like a good girl?” As if the hollow female characters weren’t enough, our only insight into The Spirit himself comes in the form of voice-overs and the only thing we learn is that Denny Colt likes his city.  I mean he really likes his city.  He  loves his city.  I’m pretty certain he wants to make love to his city. But...