The Spirit

The film that wasn't such.


If you think you can make a film with:

• A comic-book artist whose graphic style may be something of a legend in his world but has no idea whatsoever about how to direct a film.

• A couple of rough guidelines scribbled on paper, too weak to even be called story plot.

• Dialogue lines that, for the most part, try to be clever but come off as ridiculous, absurd and embarrassing to everyone involved in the film and their families. Including yourself for watching it.

• A female cast dressed up as prostitutes and whose only requirement is too look sexually attractive so that the promotional posters work. Never mind their professional reputation (it's just Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Paz Vega ... who even knows them anyway?). And don't worry about the actual film, they'll just be given any line we can come up with in the set, nobody will notice.

• Yet another silly, empty character played by Samuel L. Jackson, who seems to be more resolved than ever to flush what is left of his believability down the toilet.

Well, if you do think you can make a film with all this, then you are wrong. They just tried in The Spirit and failed miserably. Whatever this by-product is, it can't even be considered a film.

I personally think that, as his tribute to his admired Will Eisner (the creator of the original character, who is probably turning in his grave since opening day), instead of creating this pointless sequence of events, Frank Miller should have been as humble as to politely say "no, thank you, get an actual director" to the offer. And same with the actors. I can't believe that they actually read the script and didn't just kill their respective agents for getting it in the first place.

Not even the visual aspect can be praised here. Yes, it replicates Miller's style faithfully, but we already saw that in Sin City (oh, no, parts 2 and 3 are coming!) and there was no need of repeating it if there was nothing else to add in any other sense. At no point is there any sign of efforts for making something that the audience might like.

All things considered, The Spirit may be the worst comic-book-based film ever. Apart from an insult to moviegoers.