Normally the critics seem to make some sense on their reviews of movies, but this one is extremely underrated. Horrible critical reception and not such a great start at the box office might make people believe that this is just an awful movie, but it really isn't. It's a corny, almost spoof of superhero films, filmed in the style of Sin City, by Sin City creator Frank Miller. As long as you don't take this movie too seriously (Why would you?), this can be a very entertaining movie-going experience.
Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) was a police officer killed in the line of duty, but now he's back, but not as a cop. He's a nearly indestructible hero known as The Spirit, and he's here to protect Central City, especially from his arch-enemy, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson). The Octopus has a fiendish plan to become immortal, and with the help of the evil Silken Floss (Scarlett Johanssen), and a bunch of bumbling clones (Louis Lomabardi), he just might get his way. To round off the plot, we have a former love interest to The Spirit, Sand Saref (Eva Mendes). She is now a jewel thief, but can the Spirit put her behind bars, and can she somehow connect to the other plots in a coherent manner? Tune in to find out!
The main negative of the film was the direction. It was sometimes a cartoon, sometimes normal looking, sometimes crazy backgrounds, and it never knew what it wanted to be. Obviously this is a style that Frank Miller enjoys, but it's too inconsistent. The script was pretty lazy too, but it was more bearable during bad lines than most. The whole movie felt like a superhero spoof movie, so the corny lines were humorous.
The acting was pretty good. Gabriel Macht seemed to be doing a Michael Keaton Batman impression, and Samuel L. Jackson is always good, and he played an out there, but fun villain. Scarlett Johanssen plays a good sidekick to Samuel L. Jackson, and Louis Lombardi is the best character in the movie. He plays numerous smiling clones, and produces most of the genuine laughs. Eva Mendes gives a typical performance, and seems to be there for eye candy, but she does a decent job too.
Overall, this is one of the dumbest and goofiest movies of the year. But at the same time, this is just an entertaining near spoof of superhero movies, and is not meant to be taken seriously. How could a movie where the main protagonist's wardrobe is the exact same as the Hamburgler's be taken seriously?
My rating: *** out of ****. 95 mins. PG-13 for violence.
Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) was a police officer killed in the line of duty, but now he's back, but not as a cop. He's a nearly indestructible hero known as The Spirit, and he's here to protect Central City, especially from his arch-enemy, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson). The Octopus has a fiendish plan to become immortal, and with the help of the evil Silken Floss (Scarlett Johanssen), and a bunch of bumbling clones (Louis Lomabardi), he just might get his way. To round off the plot, we have a former love interest to The Spirit, Sand Saref (Eva Mendes). She is now a jewel thief, but can the Spirit put her behind bars, and can she somehow connect to the other plots in a coherent manner? Tune in to find out!
The main negative of the film was the direction. It was sometimes a cartoon, sometimes normal looking, sometimes crazy backgrounds, and it never knew what it wanted to be. Obviously this is a style that Frank Miller enjoys, but it's too inconsistent. The script was pretty lazy too, but it was more bearable during bad lines than most. The whole movie felt like a superhero spoof movie, so the corny lines were humorous.
The acting was pretty good. Gabriel Macht seemed to be doing a Michael Keaton Batman impression, and Samuel L. Jackson is always good, and he played an out there, but fun villain. Scarlett Johanssen plays a good sidekick to Samuel L. Jackson, and Louis Lombardi is the best character in the movie. He plays numerous smiling clones, and produces most of the genuine laughs. Eva Mendes gives a typical performance, and seems to be there for eye candy, but she does a decent job too.
Overall, this is one of the dumbest and goofiest movies of the year. But at the same time, this is just an entertaining near spoof of superhero movies, and is not meant to be taken seriously. How could a movie where the main protagonist's wardrobe is the exact same as the Hamburgler's be taken seriously?
My rating: *** out of ****. 95 mins. PG-13 for violence.