Comments on: Will Eisner, Frank Miller and “The Spirit”

By: Nave 'Torment'

Nave 'Torment' — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:41:05 +0000

While I understand that Miller tried to adapt THE SPIRIT in his own voice and vision — and yes, the discrepancy from Eisner’s work is certainly an adaptation — what he fails to deliver is what Denny Colt was a spirit of: the noir genre itself. As a comic-book reader it was Miller’s work that introduced me to the world of noir, of a dark and dreary reality where morality remained as ambiguous as the colours that were mortal, but with both his work in Batman and The Spirit, FM keeps moving away from that world. The Spirit evoked the soul of film noir — of hardboiled heroes who were lost in the alienation of the modern, urban world. The character walked the fine line between “pulp” and “superhero” — thematically — on film, he’s simply another Dick Tracy fan who’s all flash with fedoras and trench-coats without the ingrained sense of despair and uncertainty that would propel a real detective to go on fighting. Miller touched on that in the opening shot — that uncertainty of his own identity — but gradually lost it when “NOIR” became more of a “FAD” than a “REALITY”.

By: | Parallax View

| Parallax View — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:09:36 +0000

[...] Frank Miller’s big screen incarnation of Will Eisner’s landmark comic superhero series The Spirit was not a hit in theaters and the visually dynamic but narratively sketchy comic book movie isn’t any better on DVD. The character is an icon among comic book aficionados but not well known to the general public, but the film’s real problems lay more squarely with comic book artist/writer-turned-director Miller, whom makes his solo directing debut with this film. Eisnerâ€™s Spirit was a boy scout of two-fisted crimefighter, sort of like The Batman with a sense of humor and a self-effacing quality, resilient and definitely mortal. In Millerâ€™s hands, the self-deprecating, decidedly human Spirit (Gabriel Macht) has become superhuman and vaguely supernatural. The visual milieu is strictly forties, from cars to fashions to city street architecture, with splashes of the modern world (The Spirit has a cell phone). The graphic style recalls the monochrome palette of Sin City, with a color scheme dialed down to only hints of fleshtones and key visual indicators â€“ like his red tie â€“ painted bright to jump out from the screen. Itâ€™s striking, but distracting. Miller plays to his own strengths here â€“ the punch of bold, stripped-down graphic images and the self-conscious tribute-turned-parody of pulp fiction conventions â€“ and delivers a flashy but visually static mess where our quasi-supernaturally-enhanced do-gooder is swamped by the flamboyant imagery and the shamelessly hammy overacting of the colorful cast (Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johanson, Paz Vega, and Louis Lombardi). I wrote a feature review of the film for Parallax View here. [...]

By: Marc

Marc — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 03:00:06 +0000

Just wanted to say that as a new reader, I’m enjoying the thoughtful and non-traditional reviews here. Regarding “The Spirit,” I guess Frank Miller can do what he pleases, but it’s fairly appalling to me to read his comments about another director possibly ‘screwing up’ this project, while his filmmaking style seems to be at odds with most every artistic & narrative choice Eisner made in his original creation.

By: Stefan

Stefan — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 20:11:35 +0000

good review