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Frank Miller's "The Spirit" is the epitome of a comic
book movie, visually striking and perfectly cast, with a
plot so over the top and dialogue so silly that it's actually
a lot of fun. If you're even considering taking this movie
seriously, it's best you skip it and then forget that you've
ever heard of it. I listened to the corny lines and I saw
the preposterous action sequences, but rather than be critical,
I just shrugged it off and allowed myself to enjoy what
I was watching. ***
Based on the comic series created by Will Eisner, "The
Spirit" is part superhero movie, part film noir, and part
detective story with just a little sci-fi thrown in for
good measure; they all come together to form a goofy but
entertaining product, one so stylized that you can't help
but stare at it in total fascination. Like Miller's "Sin
City" and "300," it creates a world of its own through amazing
computer technology, turning every frame into a living interpretation
of a comic book panel. ***
The setting: A dirty metropolis known as Central City,
the kind of place where crime is as normal as self-indulgent
voiceover narrations and slinky saxophone solos. Keeping
watch from the shadows is the title character (Gabriel Macht),
a mask-wearing, cat-loving vigilante who prefers black suits,
black hats, and red ties. He started life as a rookie cop
named Denny Colt, who was shot to death while on duty. ***
Through a process I won't describe, and for reasons
I won't reveal, he was brought back to life and now has
the ability to heal very quickly, meaning his body can take
a lot of abuse. Most of the abuse is at the hands of his
archenemy, a mad scientist known only as The Octopus (Samuel
L. Jackson), so named because he supposedly has eight of
everything. In an early scene, the two meet at a local trash-polluted
bog and beat each other senseless; at one point, The Octopus
takes a discarded toilet and smashes it over The Spirit's
head. "Oh, come on," The Octopus sneers, "toilets are always
funny." ***
The Octopus' sinister plan: Drink from an ancient vase
containing the blood of Heracles (or maybe it's Hercules)
and become immortal. Once that happens, he'll begin a campaign
to take over the world. Unfortunately, a sultry femme fatale
named Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) unknowingly took the crate
containing the vase; she believed she had found a different
crate, one that contained a very old, very special piece
of armor. She and The Octopus must now negotiate a trade.
***
But The Spirit complicates matters. He and Sand were
childhood friends until a family tragedy turned them against
each other. As a teenager, she vowed she would leave Central
City, become fabulously wealthy, and surround herself with
a multitude of shiny things, like diamonds. She was as good
as her word; she now has a reputation for marrying rich
men, having them killed, and using their money to finance
her underground crime empire. *** Numerous side characters
populate this film, all of which are given personality quirks
unique enough for a comic book adaptation. There's the perpetually
flustered Commissioner Dolan (Dan Lauria), who relies on
The Spirit but doesn't approve of his methods. ***
There's Dolan's daughter, Ellen (Sarah Paulson), a
doctor who spends all her time at the hospital waiting for
The Spirit; the two have had romantic flings, but his reputation
as a womanizer strains their relationship. ***
There's Morgenstern (Stana Katic), a rookie cop who
dresses like a leather mistress and brings such youthful
enthusiasm to the job. ***
One of the most baffling characters is Lorelei Rox
(Jaime King), a luminous phantom who always appears when
The Spirit is on the verge of dying; how this came to be
is anyone's guess, and so are her reasons for staying so
close to The Spirit. *** The Octopus also has a number of
interesting side characters. His accomplice is Silken Floss
(Scarlett Johansson), a scientist with eyelashes so long
that they would have been the envy of Tammy Faye Baker.
***
And then there are his cloned henchmen (all played
by Louis Lombardi), big, brainless brutes who have Greek
and Hispanic names that end with "-os," such as Pathos,
Huevos, Logos, Ethos, Rancheros, and Amigos. One of these
clones is a freaky genetic accident--a tiny head attached
to a bouncing foot. ***
While The Spirit is about as conventional a character
as I expected, The Octopus continually surprised me. Consider
the fact that he never wears the same outfit twice; he's
the kind of person who wears anything that reflects his
given mood. Within the course of this movie, we see him
dressed as a scientist, a samurai, and a pseudo-pimp, with
an expensive fur collar to boot. There's even a point when
he dresses like a Nazi, and this is hilarious given the
unbridgeable gap between his race and Hitler's ideology.
***
He also has a tendency to work the topic of eggs into
his conversations, which is strange since we never see him
eating any. Basically, The Octopus is more comedy relief
than he is a villain. I didn't mind a great deal, though;
this character is so delightfully overblown that he's probably
better suited for humor. ***
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