Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2349 in DVD
• Released on: 2009-05-25
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Synopsis
Based on Will Eisner's classic 1940s and '50s comic series and written and directed by his acolyte Frank Miller, THE SPIRIT follows the adventures of the crimefighter of the title (Gabriel Macht), a former cop mysteriously brought back from the dead. Hiding his identity as Denny Colt behind a mask and a fedora, the Spirit, now seemingly indestructible, protects his beloved Central City from his mortal enemy, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), while contending with the many women in his life, including the doting Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson) and the dangerous Sand Seref (Eva Mendes).


Credited with co-helming the film adaptation of his renowned SIN CITY comics (with Robert Rodriguez), Miller turns to one of his primary influences for his solo directorial debut. Not surprisingly, he uses the hyper-stylized SIN CITY look as a template for THE SPIRIT, allowing Eisner's pulpy vintage aesthetic to merge with SIN CITY's gritty atmosphere. Macht is well cast as the brooding Spirit, who has a habit of talking to himself at length, while Jackson gleefully chews scenery and burns through costume changes as the quirky, egg-obsessed Octopus. Although Paulson, Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, and others are largely relegated to "Bond girl" status, they play their roles with declarative verve, making THE SPIRIT an enjoyably campy addition to the pantheon of comic-book movies.

Customer Reviews

Spirited!
One of the lesser know comic book heroes, The Spirit is an enigmatic and subtle figure, who inhabits a world of mad scientists (of course), embittered femme fatales (naturally), and world-weary police captains (why not). The film, directed by Frank Miller, is very much in the mould of Sin City; there are sudden splashes of colour, usually red, but the action is usually drenched in dark and broody black, with surreal occurrences the norm and cartoonish violence a regular visitor. Samuel L Jackson co-stars alongside relative newcomer Gabriel Macht as The Spirit's nemesis: The Octopus, and his usual intense performance stands-out against the overall tongue-in-cheek feel of the film.
Overall this a great bit of escapism; well-acted, fun and neatly skirting superhero cliché, the film provides a welcome alternative to its more populist comic book cousins.

Better than you might think!
The easiest thing in the world is to crticise something negatively, we're all good at that, so here's a more difficult to put together positive critique.Forget all the basically "What a load of rubbish" reviews. Ok it's not faithful to the original stories (how many movies are?), and he wears a black suit not his iconic blue one (a very major sin in some people's minds but it suits the muted colours better), but this is a comic story put onto the big screen after all. How logical do you expect it to be. It's about a man who's dead after all and can't die again, how realistic is that!! I have to agree, the Nazi bit came straight from the left field and some of the acting could be a bit better, but they are playing comic book characters don't forget. That aside I actually liked it... a lot. Sure the dialogue isn't up to the standard of Shakespeare, but remember neither were Sin City or 300; they used the original text from the comic books and were equally unusual; Miller wrote the script for this movie in a similar style. Let's be fair, the acting in 300 and Sin City didn't exactly set the world on fire, but really suited those films; it's the same here. Sure it's nothing like other comic adaptations like Spiderman, Batman, X-Men, Iron Man and so on, but that doesn't make it bad. It's just different; a little more arty if you like. I find that when people are very fond of something, be it a type of music, book, tv show or in this case movie, they can get a bit precious about things and become unnecessarily, sometimes vitriolically, damning of something which doesn't match their own idea of how it should have turned out (We've all seen Comic Book Guy on the Simpsons). Relax, open your mind and consider if you really would have done anything differently or better (and that's subjective remember)... I doubt it. The greenscreen documentary in the extras will explain everything to sceptics. A bold movie in my view, and if you're not precious, enjoyable... but hey, I also like progressive rock, so what do I know!!!

Werid But Enjoyable.
After seeing the excellent Sin City and 300, Frank Miller has made the Spirit that is a different kind of Comic Book movie I have seen for a while. The hero played by Gabriel Macht is out to get the nasty Octopus played by Samuel L Jackson while learning that his long lost love played by Eva Mendes is around wanting the same thing from her childhood. It has the snow and colours like Sin City, it has the brutal fight scenes like 300 but it has some laughs and the hero being a womaniser instead of a cold-hearted one. Some parts are weird and unexplainable like the Nazi scenes but I found it very enjoyable to watch and wouldn't mind seeing again. I highly recommend this film to anyone who liked Sin City, 300, Frank Miller or just comic book movies in general.