Review

Review Date: 28-December-08
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Just OK

The Spirit (2008)

With all the sugar at hand this time of year, it makes sense that Hollywood delivered The Spirit in an overstuffed cineplex stocking. This comic book adaptation is essentially eye candy, a quirky bit of matinee fluff designed to make freckled boys (or teens) say "Zowie!" The eponymous hero, who was created in the 1940s and here retains some quaintness, is a former cop who cheated death and now serves as a masked, unstoppable crime fighter. (He is brought to life by fresh face Gabriel Macht.) The Spirit has a way with the ladies, but his biggest love is the city that raised him and nurtures him still.

Much of the movie covers past experiences that shaped the Spirit, including the origin of his imperviousness to death and the sad tale of his first love. Remembrance seems to come looking for him. The ongoing war with his equally impervious nemesis reaches a point where each wants the other truly dead. Samuel L. Jackson plays the evil Octopus in wide-eyed wacko mode, conducting macabre experiments in Nazi uniform, obsessing over eggs, and plotting world domination with a siren named Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson). Another dangerous beauty, Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), comes to town on a quest which gets tangled up with that of the Octopus. (Both quests involve Greek myths which were probably zowier 60 years ago.) While struggling through bullets down memory lane, the hero receives both assistance and grief from the gruff police chief (Dan Lauria) and the chief's surgeon daughter (Sarah Paulson), who loves the Spirit despite his fickleness.

In addition to the winsome cast (often in states of undress), the movie features a stark palette and sketchbook design which mark it as the work of Frank Miller, co-director of Sin City. Swirling snow lends a touch of beauty to black-and-red violence; dimly seen buildings hint at art deco splendor that succumbed to humans' rough living. The look, like the characters, offers a slight alternative to substance. One might wish that the picture had less of a spirit's immateriality.

Copyright © 2008 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.