The Spirit
Starring: Gabriel Macht, Scarlett Johansson, Samule L. Jackson, Eva MendesDirector: Frank Miller
Year of Release: 2008
Boring. looks nice and all, but just plain boring. Not a whole hell of a lot happens and who really cares what does happen. The characters are flat, the acting is weak, and the direction is just lethargic. This is comic book legend Frank Miller’s first film directed solely by him (he got a co-directing credit for Sin City) and one gets the sense that after Sin City he said to himslef “Hey, I could do this directing thing no problem.” Well there is a problem. What works in comic books is very hard to translate into movies. Very well experienced directors rarely pull it off, and Frank is not an experienced director by any stretch. It just all feels so bland and pointless, more impressive as still camera shots than moving action. Yawn.
Eva Mendes is one of the lead actresses in this film and she is a TERRIBLE actress. She really sucks the life out of every scene she’s in. Scarlett Johanassen is a real dead fish on screen as well. Samuel L. Jackson is a larger-than-life cartoony villain and he does that well. And Gabriel Macht as the Spirit does a good job as well. But too much bad acting and a very weak story leaves this shiny piece of jewelry not shiny enough to make it worth the trip.
