‘The Spirit’ Review (Blu-Ray)

The Spirit, the brainchild of Will Eisner as re-imagined for screen by Frank Miller, is a film filled with stunning visuals that should have never been made.

After seemingly rising from the dead, detective Denny Cold forsakes his real identity and becomes The Spirit, a crime-fighting vigilante. Under the guidance of his old friend Police Commissioner Dolan, the Spirit operates where the cops cannot.

Written in the 1940s by Will Eisner, the Spirit bears all womanizing tendencies of male heroes created during that time, like James Bond. He claims to love good girl Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), but still likes to canoodle with any girl that catches his eye – including bad girl Sand Saref (Eva Mendes).

Director Frank Miller’s adaptation of the comic for film is another journey into the world of digital green screen madness. Miller achieved filmmaking success with movies like “300” and “Sin City.” Unfortunately, there is a point where stylized films just feel cliché. Top that off with a script filled with cheesy dialogue that fails to achieve humorous irreverence every time and you’ve got yourself one hell of a snooze-fest. The script is so bad at times that you actually feel sad that actors like Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson had to commit to these unmemorable characters.

Sure, historically Eisner’s characters may forever hold a place in the hearts of comic fans. But, for The Spirit to have truly made an impact on audiences, the production needed more than just a modern day cinematic upgrade. Strip away the fact that Will Eisner wrote the original comic, and the movie leaves you with a bad sub-B movie that makes your average Friday the 13th flick look like an artistic masterpiece. One only wonders, if the story would have been better delivered had it not been made with the distracting green screen cinematics.

The Spirit comes with several Blu-Ray features. The “Miller on Miller” featurette is definitely the most standout special feature. Frank Miller talks about first moving to New York City and how he used the city as the groundwork for all his future writing and artwork.

Laughably, “The Spirit” has an open ending that hints at a sequel. But this movie will probably never see the light of day again. If you’re looking for a stylized visual treat then the Spirit may be for you. Watching the film in HD is simply amazing. Just make sure to turn the volume off to protect your ears from the horrendous dialogue.

Special Features:
- “Green World” Featurette
- “Miller on Miller” Featurette
- Alternate Storyboard Ending with Voiceover by Gabriael Macht and Samuel L. Jackson
- “History Repeats” Featurette
- Audio Commentary with Director Frank Miller and Producer Deborah Del Prete