Nope, 'The Spirit' movie doesn't work in Zaire, either (Post Online)

All-star cast cannot save story
2009/09/04

BASED on the graphic novel by Will Eisner, this film is a prime example of the film makers spending too much on the visual effects and the cast’s salaries, and not paying enough attention to telling a decent story.

Given that it is directed by Frank Miller, the man behind Sin City and 300, you will know what to expect visually – although real actors are used, it has the feel of reading a graphic novel, complete with all the comic book violence.

Told in film noir style, it focuses on the rivalry between The Spirit (Gabriel Macht) and The Octopus (Samuel L Jackson), two immortals with super powers who regularly beat each other senseless, even if they are unable to kill each other. There’s also a sub-plot involving The Spirit’s childhood sweetheart Sand Seref (Eva Mendes) who has now turned evil and is seeking to get her hands on the Golden Fleece from ancient mythology.

At the same time The Octopus is trying to get the blood of Hercules. Don’t ask why, it doesn’t make much sense.

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New York Magazine Movie Preview: The Spirit

By Dan Kois
New York Magazine
August 10, 2008

THE SPIRIT (Lionsgate)
Tagline: “My city screams.”
Translation: As does the ghost of Will Eisner.
The Verdict: Frank Miller, writer of 300 and Sin City, got his first solo directing gig with The Spirit, the landmark creation of Eisner, legendary comics artist and inventor of the graphic novel. And from the campy set-pieces, overheated dialogue, lack of action, and overreliance on femme fatales, it’s hard not to think that it won’t be his last— or the last superhero movie, period.

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The colossus of Con (San Diego Union-Tribune)

With one foot in comics and the other in film, Frank Miller is Comic-Con

By Peter Rowe
July 20, 2008
San Diego Union-Tribune

When Hollywood makes “Comic-Con: The Movie,” about a meek little convention that morphs into a pop-culture behemoth, we know just the guy for the starring role.

Frank Miller is Comic-Con.

When the 39th annual Con opens this week – preview night is Wednesday, followed by four days of Spandex-and-celluloid madness – Miller will be inescapable. Look for the lanky guy with dark facial hair and a black fedora. He'll be on the exhibition floor, where his comic books and graphic novels, from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns to 300, are hot collectibles.

He'll be at Friday night's Eisner Awards, the comic book industry's Oscars, nominated for an omnibus edition of his Daredevil books.

He'll be on a panel discussion about an upcoming December film starring Eva Mendes, Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson. The Spirit is based on characters created by one of Miller's friends and inspirations, the late Will Eisner.

Yes, as in the aforementioned Eisner Awards.

“I really was a student of Will Eisner,” said Miller, 51. “He and I would have loud, often quite vulgar arguments. And he usually won.”

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