The Spirit (2008)

I've just watched another trailer for The Spirit, due to come out during the next Christmas holidays.

I am not only unimpressed, I am disappointed.



This being said, I will watch it when it comes out. But there is a high lilelyhood that as minutes pass, I will get angrier, and angrier at Frank Miller.

The Trailer starts bragging about Frank Miller and the Fact that he was behind Sin City and 300. I loved both movies

Those two were great graphic novels. But since I refuse to be an pseudo intellectual geek, I still call comics, comics. And I love comics.

Frank Miller is also behind "The Dark Night" graphic novel, but nobody seems to pay too much attention to this since the movie only shared the title with Frank's version of the night avenger.

Anyway,

The new spirit movie is in my opinion, and the opinion of many a violation, or in lamens terms, an "ass-rape" of the work of Will Eisner.

You have to understand, while Frank Miller was all the hype in the comic book world in the 80's, and 90's I guess, Will Eisner, was a GENIUS. Will Eisner is considered as one of, if not the, most influential Comic Bok artist/writer....EVER. EVER !!!!

So, what a coincidence that the movie comes out in 2008, 3 years after Will Eisner's death. and that no single movie saw the light during his lifetime.

First of all, this movie is a total review of the original Spirit plot/story.
You can read about it in detail in this article: "How Miller is ruining The Spirit"

Personally I want to say something about the visuals.
The original spirit comic book is set in the 40's, a time of mystery, smoke, dark alleys and sexy women, think L.A. confidential.
Sure, the movie "seems" to be set in that time, but did they have MG-machine guns then? modern-era military helicopters?....what the hell.

Also, Will Eisner got to be famous for his mastery of black and white drawing. For his art in using shadows to add atmosphere. He has published numerous books on the subject. In time, colored versions of the spirit came out, but they could never match the originals.





Also, The Spirit is a tall, strong guy, he is mysterious, he is scary and seductive. He is a role model for little kids like me.



And seriously, can Gabriel Macht (please check out his filmography and have a laugh) play the role of the main character in the most important comic book of the most influential comic book artist ever?
They have Robert Downey Jr. playing fucking Iron Man (no disrespect to Stan Lee, but even him is little, artist wise, not creative wise, to Will Eisner), and they have Gabriel-fucking-Macht playing The Spirit.

on a side note, I recently noticed that Robert Downey Jr. had a part in Weird Science, and he had a gap in his teeth that doesn't exist today...hmmm,



This reminds me of one thing....When Billy Zane played The Phantom. Ruining it forever.

Then, the female cast.
women in the Spirit are all seductive temptresses, dangerous woman. sexy, shapely, morbid, intriguing, they were the sexy-goths of their time. Black widows.



and seriously...Scarlett Johansson, I mean, ok, she is hot. But she's over-exposed, and not that talented of an actress. She made a career because her eyes and mouth are devastatingly erotic, but everything else about her is completely common. She does not posess the elegance to carry her role.

Eva Mendes is also hot, and is probably more acceptable. But seriously, you need more elgance, you simply do. Charlize Theron would have been perfect.
But Cherlize Theron would be smart enough no to be in a movie where the lead male character is played by Gabriel Macht.

I don't know what else to say except that I feel that Frank Miller raped my childhood days of finding old spirit comics from my parents in the attic.

Fuck you Frank Miller....Fuck you !