A Look At "The Spirit"

While at the theater watching the trailers waiting for Iron Man to start I got excited. This trailer started and I thought it was for Watchmen but quickly realized that it did not have the correct feel to it then they revealed the name of the move: The Spirit. Here is the trailer. The trailer did it's job, I got curious and was quickly on the case.

The Spirit is due for a Christmas release 25 December 2008. It was written and directed by Frank Miller. They label it as an action, adventure, & romance. The official Synopsis (via The Spirit Movie):

...the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) to fight crime from the shadows of central city. His arch -enemy, the octopus (Samuel l. Jackson) has a different mission: he's going to wipe out spirit's beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality. The spirit tracks his cold-hearted killer from central city's rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront ... all the while facing the bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill our masked crusader. Surrounding him at every turn are Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), she whip-smart girl-next door; Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson), a punk secretary and frigid vixen; Plaster of Paris (Paz Vega), a murderous French nightclub dancer; Lorelei (Jaime King), a phantom siren; and Morgenstern (Stana Katic), a sexy young cop. Then of course, there's Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), the jewel thief with dangerous curves. She's the love of his life turned bad. Will he save her or will she kill him?

I love that Samuel Jackson has a major part on the project. Not that his presence means that it will be a good movie because he has been in several bad ones but his parts are always enjoyable and sometimes the only good parts of a movie. So for me that is a nice plus.

The names of some of the characters are a little distracting but I can move past that. Sand Saref, honestly I chuckle and shake my head but if the actors / actresses do their job they will be able to make it sound natural. Besides it was written in the 40's - 50's and names have been that way for over 50 years so I give them credit for not changing them.

The Spirit is based on the 16 page newsprint comic book which was sold as part of the Sunday paper. Created by Will Eisner, The Spirit ran with 20 issues from June 2nd 1940 to October 5th 1952. from wikipedia:

The Spirit chronicled the adventures of a masked vigilante who fought crime with the blessing of the city's police commissioner, an old friend. Despite the Spirit's origin as a detective named Denny Colt, his real identity was virtually unmentioned again and for all intents and purposes he was simply "The Spirit". The stories ranged through a wide variety of styles, from straightforward crime drama and film noir to lighthearted adventure, from mystery and horror to comedy and love stories, often with hybrid elements that twisted genre and expectations.