The Spirit flops!

[RobertScorpio]

I think it's way too early to call this a flop. First, those estimates are for a single day with fewer theaters showing it than any of the other movies. Second, and most importantly, I don't think "The Spirit" cost a lot to make.

Let's tune back next week.

Its a flop...and I am glad..I hated SIN CITY and I hated 300, this movie, Spirit, even looks stupid...and ALL those movies flopped, including 300...so its not like this guy was 'big' any way..he was just trendy...

Tarintino is another one who has dropped off the face of the world because his style became so cynical, and smarmy, that no one goes to see his movies either....I say..GOOD!

Rob

 

[zakkrusz]

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it did considering it's odd style. I went to it and to me it felt like a big cheesy pulp comic made solely for making fun of old pulp comics and old-time radio superheroes like The Shadow and The Phantom, not even trying to take itself seriously. So in short, I loved it, I couldn't stop laughing during this movie, and had a really good time. It has hillarious gems like

Spoiler: stuff

The Spirit's initial fight with the Octopus, the dancing miniature foot with a head on it, the scene where the theif is running and the Spirit's arm comes out of nowhere to closeline him.

So if it looks bad to you all, that's the intention I'd say because it's a satire. Go see it and judge for yourself instead of dissmissing it outright. You might like it. Also I'm not really a fan of Sin City at all but I did really like 300.

 

[Michael Chris]

Not terribly surprising.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Its a flop...and I am glad..I hated SIN CITY and I hated 300, this movie, Spirit, even looks stupid...and ALL those movies flopped, including 300...so its not like this guy was 'big' any way..he was just trendy...

Uh, no; Sin City and 300 made massive amounts of money.

 

[zakkrusz]

Not to mention The Spirit isn't really like either of them (aside from having a similiar visual style to Sin City) so liking or not liking them may or may not apply depending on your issue.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

For some reason I convinced myself I needed to see this one at the theater and it's unlikely to go second run/dollar movies.

It was...different, like Miller was taking a 1960's Batman episode and running it through Dick Tracy. Also, I got UNBREAKABLE vibes from the Octopus and Spirit connection, the flashback of Eva Mendes's character as a teen reminded me of Ghost Rider.

Scarlett Johansson's acting is so intentionally flat its funny. Jackson seemed to be having fun. Macht looks fit the part but never quite had the charisma. Paz Vega's role was almost pointless (but so was the movie). Eva Mendes might as well be credited as "Eva Mendes' Ass".

A couple in front of me bailed after the first Octopus-Spirit fight. I actually considered it, too. But I had to have closure.

I'd rate it a generous 5/10.

 

[Timby]

So if it looks bad to you all, that's the intention I'd say because it's a satire.

A common defense for a lot of bad movies, but that's not the case here. Frank Miller was very clear about his respect for Will Eisner and his desire to be "true" to Eisner's material.

The problem is that Frank Miller is functionally retarded and incapable of actually generating a coherent movie.

 

[ancient]

So if it looks bad to you all, that's the intention I'd say because it's a satire.

A common defense for a lot of bad movies, but that's not the case here. Frank Miller was very clear about his respect for Will Eisner and his desire to be "true" to Eisner's material.

The problem is that Frank Miller is functionally retarded and incapable of actually generating a coherent movie.

Exactly. Frank is so far off the deep end, he should have drown by now.

I mean look at All Star B&R. He is totally 100% dead serious when he writes that shit. Aside from the huge continuity gaffs, Frank is under the impression that all male characters must hate eachother. Otherwise they're...y'know...GAY.

 

[StarTrek1701]

So if it looks bad to you all, that's the intention I'd say because it's a satire.

A common defense for a lot of bad movies, but that's not the case here. Frank Miller was very clear about his respect for Will Eisner and his desire to be "true" to Eisner's material.

The problem is that Frank Miller is functionally retarded and incapable of actually generating a coherent movie.

Exactly. Frank is so far off the deep end, he should have drown by now.

I mean look at All Star B&R. He is totally 100% dead serious when he writes that shit. Aside from the huge continuity gaffs, Frank is under the impression that all male characters must hate eachother. Otherwise they're...y'know...GAY.

The way he writes Superman and Green Lantern its not even funny.

 

[DanTheGrey]

For the record I liked Sin City and 300

As for this movie, when a much more film nerd friend of mine gave me the review of "I had a free pass, I saw it and I'm thinking of suing for compensation" it gave me an idea of where this movie was going

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

For those who didn't see it (most people) there was a line by the Octopus

"DEAD AS STAR TREK!"

Who hated Trek? Miller? Jackson?

The movie mixes 1940's elements with modern tech. Why? Who knows.

 

[ancient]

He should have said: "Dead as this movie!"

 

[Mr Light]

I saw the flick... it was interesting, not terrible but not wonderful either. My biggest complaint is not the campy tone but the lack of any major action scenes between the opening and close of the film. It made the film feel a little slow and cheap. So how faithful is it to the comic book? I'm completely unfamiliar with it. From my brief wiki check it looks like the Octopus character was really a mixture of two different villains from the comic.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Yeah, and they combined Sand Seriff with P'Gell, too. I thought it was strange that The Spirit's old flame is a gold-digging, bitchy black widow.

Wikipedia says there was a 1987 Spirit t.v. movie starring Sam Jones and Nana Visitor?

 

[ClayinCA]

Wikipedia says there was a 1987 Spirit t.v. movie starring Sam Jones and Nana Visitor?

I actually saw this when it aired. It wasn't so much a TV movie as it was a pilot for a never-sold Spirit TV series. It wasn't bad, as I recall; it was certainly an awful lot better than this abortion of a movie.

 

[blockaderunner]

So if it looks bad to you all, that's the intention I'd say because it's a satire.

Well, considering that Miller has said on several occasions that he had nothing but tremendous respect for Eisner and his creation, this film indicates that he was either lying about that statement and made it a "satire" as you said, or that he was serious but had no idea how to translate the character to the big screen. And considering his recent work on All Star Batman, not being able to translate characters seems par for the course nowadays for this guy.

 

[TemporalFlux]

Well, considering that Miller has said on several occasions that he had nothing but tremendous respect for Eisner and his creation, this film indicates that he was either lying about that statement...

Actually, the remainder of his recollection is that he and Eisner used to vigorously fight about different opinions on style. So the backstory of the two men is pretty consistent; Eisner would assuredly be fighting with Miller right now about the interpretation in The Spirit.

That said, I walked into Spirit with absolutely no knowledge of the character, and I enjoyed the movie. Parts of it were campy; parts of it were strange; but underlying it all was a very intriguing idea and universe. I've also read some complaints about the Octopus and how they should have followed the comics version that was a villain never really shown on camera? I would argue that Miller's movie was like a prologue; the Octopus was later not seen most of the time because he didn't have enough of himself left to show.