THE SPIRIT REVIEW

The Spirit is Frank Miller latest green screen concoction and his first outing in the world of directing. The movie follows The Spirit, a former cop who was gunned down by a gangstar. However, he is back as The Spirit, the cities latest crime fighting hero. TheSpirit must verse fight against The Octopus, played maniacally by Samual L Jackson.So the plot is pretty basic, but most movie go-ers know that basic plots can be overcome by great execution. And just like an unco person playing Mirrors Edge, the jump is perilless and The Spirit misses by a considerable distance. Partly because of the plot, partly because of the one dimensional characters and the mediocre acting, and partly because of the strange quirkiness of humour that isnt necessarily bad or unsuitable but doesnt seem like it belongs in this movie (because of the dark vibe it gives off).

Firstly, the acting. The cast is almost all A-List, with actors such as Samual L Jackson, Gabriel Macht, Eva Longorier, Sarah Paulson and Scarlett Johansson. However, the acting is mediocre, with Gabriel Macht (as The Spirit) playing the part normally then flashing his abs and putting of a gruff voice. He just doesnt really work in the role,andhe also doesnt seem like a womanizer that all women love either.I used to think that Scarlett Johansenn was basically a name you put on a cover, however she actually does something in this movie as The Octypusses sidekick. Eva is outshined by a rookie actor who plays a younger version of her character for ten minutes of the movie.

Overall, the characters are very very one dimensional, so really actors werent needed as they could have used Stan and Kyle from southpark, and could have been animated aswell as everything else in this movie. The cinematography is pretty good, even if it is all green-screened. There are some interesting shifts in backgrounds from normal to animated white-red stripes and the final few scenes are pretty stand out. However, Sin City had all of it filmed on green screen, but The Spirit just makes it obvious and it doesnt really flow aswell as it did in Sin City. Basically , Millers job at directing would have been so much more praised (eg. BenAffleck - Gone Baby Gone) if he hadnt had made it so publisised andwasted so much money on it.

I really wanted to like The Spirit, mainly because im a different-ness-ness whore, but it just isnt that good. So overall, im going to give The Spirit a 5/10, and I still really want everyone to watch this movie because it is in no way bad, but it just isnt that good.