CNS Movie Review: The Spirit

The Spirit

By John Mulderig
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Will Eisner's classic comic-book series "The Spirit" -- first introduced as a stand-alone newspaper section in 1940 -- comes to the screen (Lionsgate) as an artistically crafted but ultimately insubstantial adventure.

Set in imaginary Central City -- like Batman's Gotham an obvious variation on mid-20th-century New York -- this is the story of police officer Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht), who, after being shot to death, finds himself mysteriously resuscitated and embarks on a career as a crime fighter. (His titular name reflects his ambition to embody his beloved hometown's soul.)

Though without superpowers, the Spirit -- habitually dressed in a black fedora and a bright red tie -- is extraordinarily agile and nearly invulnerable. This leads to long and exhausting but inconclusive battles with his nemesis, maniacal drug dealer the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), who enjoys a similar resilience and hints that he knows the secret of Colt's revival. Scarlett Johansson plays the Octopus' icy-hearted but elegant sidekick, Silken Floss.

Central City's hard-bitten police commissioner, Dolan (Dan Lauria), complains about the Spirit's methods, but nonetheless relies on him to keep the metropolis secure. Dolan's physician daughter, Ellen (Sarah Paulson) -- the Spirit's girlfriend in his earlier incarnation, though she now fails to recognize him behind his Lone Ranger-like mask -- specializes in aiding his unusually rapid recovery after each scrape.

Spanish actress Paz Vega ("Spanglish") puts in a brief appearance as knife-wielding belly dancer Plaster of Paris, whose past romantic entanglement with the unabashedly womanizing Spirit has left her torn between love and hate.

Denny's childhood sweetheart, Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) -- from whom he parted after a bitter quarrel -- has grown up to be a seductive jewel thief and has returned to town after a long absence and several marriages.

While leavened with occasional wisecracking wit and sly references to such familiar images as Dustin Hoffman's dental torture scene in "Marathon Man" and the gleaming interior of the titular chest in "Raiders of the Lost Ark," writer-director Frank Miller's solo debut fails to gain a grip on the viewer's emotions, since its villain is more flamboyant than hateful -- his dastardly deeds, other than dematerializing a kitten, are all off-screen -- and its protagonist has little going for him besides a tough hide.

The mood is suggestive of Miller's "Sin City," its gritty urban landscape presented in monochromatic tones sometimes giving way to actual black-and-white, with only the occasional flash of scarlet, usually from the Spirit's trademark neckwear. An exception is the upbeat daytime scene where the Spirit admires Central City's warm glow under the morning sun. But the pervasive gloom quickly closes in again.

Most of the violence in this brooding action outing is highly stylized; there are perhaps 15 seconds in all of gore.

The film contains generally stylized but briefly graphic violence, fleeting rear nudity, suicides, occasional sexual references and innuendo, much crass language and at least a dozen uses of profanity. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

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Mulderig is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.

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Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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