| The Spirit | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Frank Miller |
| Produced by | Michael Uslan Deborah Del Prete Gigi Pritzker |
| Screenplay by | Frank Miller |
| Based on | The Spirit by Will Eisner |
| Starring | Gabriel Macht Samuel L. Jackson Scarlett Johansson Eva Mendes Dan Lauria Sarah Paulson Paz Vega Stana Katic Jaime King Louis Lombardi |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Cinematography | Bill Pope |
| Editing by | Gregory Nussbaum |
| Studio | Lionsgate Odd Lot Entertainment |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
| Release date(s) | December 25, 2008 |
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $39,031,337[1] |
The Spirit is a 2008 American superhero noir film, written and directed by Frank Miller and starring Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Dan Lauria, Paz Vega, Jaime King, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson. The film is based on the newspaper comic strip The Spirit by Will Eisner. OddLot and Lionsgate produced the film.[2]
The Spirit was released in the United States on December 25, 2008, and on DVD and Blu-ray on April 14, 2009. Despite being a commercial and critical failure in theatres, the film found more success on DVD and Blu-ray.[3]
Contents |
In a cat-filled mausoleum in Central City, Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht), also known as The Spirit, receives a call from Detective Sussman (Dan Gerrity) about a major case that could involve the Spirit's arch-nemesis, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson). The Spirit dons his costume and travels across rooftops while delivering a voice-over soliloquy about the city being his one true love. A woman (Kimberly Cox) is being mugged in an alley below. He manages to save her, receiving a knife wound that he barely seems to notice. The woman asks, "What are you?" The Spirit runs away, catching a ride from Officer Liebowitz (Frank Miller) and heading toward the flats.
At the swampland, femme fatale Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) rises from the water and appears to shoot Sussman multiple times. The Spirit and Liebowitz find the wounded Sussman, but a flashback reveals that it was really the Octopus who shot him in an effort to recover two identical chests underwater. Sand and her husband Mahmoud (Eric Balfour) tried to flee with both chests, but the Octopus wounded Mahmoud and snapped a line connecting the two chests. Sand escaped, leaving one chest behind, which the Octopus retrieved from the murky depths.
After the Octopus kills Liebowitz by ripping his head off, he sends away his cloned henchmen, Ethos, Pathos, and Logos (all played by Louis Lombardi), to take on the Spirit alone. His accomplice Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson) drives up, running over Pathos in the process. She departs with the cargo, taking the view that the Spirit and the Octopus will "be at it all night" as the two enemies share a connection in their ability to resist physical injury.
The Spirit is awakened by his lover Dr. Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), daughter of Police Commissioner Dolan (Dan Lauria). Appearing to be in perfect health despite his gunshot wounds (something which has occurred seemingly many times before), the Spirit is shocked to notice a gold locket in Sussman's hand; a piece torn from Sand Saref’s neck earlier.
Saref's locket contains pictures of a much-younger Denny Colt (Johnny Simmons) and Sand (Seychelle Gabriel); the two grew up together in Central City where Denny bought Sand the locket as a gift to satisfy her love of "shiny things", including the Golden Fleece of Jason and the Argonauts. They lived happily until Sand's father was shot dead. Sand, who now hated cops, fled to Europe and has not been heard from for fifteen years. In a secret lair, the Octopus and Silken Floss open the chest, but discover that it does not contain the mysterious Blood of Heracles as expected and decide a trade is in order.
Sand and Mahmoud visit the office of a high-class fence named Donenfeld (Richard Portnow), whom Sand paid to locate the underwater treasure. It is implied that Donenfeld gave up the treasure's location to the Octopus to ensure his family's safety. At Alice's Hospital, the Spirit has fully regenerated and is as good as new; Commissioner Dolan angrily enters with young rookie cop Morgenstern (Stana Katic) and calls the Spirit away to a case.
Sand's history as one of the world's great jewel thieves is relayed to the Spirit. As the Spirit is about to arrest her, he is caught off-guard by her standing before him fully nude. Sand doesn't recognize the Spirit as the presumed-dead Denny. She is stunned when he reveals his knowledge of her looking for the Golden Fleece as she shoves the Spirit through a window only to see him survive the fall. Octopus and Floss's experimentation have led to the creation of a serum (something of a scientific equivalent to the Elixir of Life) that could grant immortality with which the Octopus injected himself and arch-enemies were born.
After surviving the fall, the Spirit receives a tip on the location of the Octopus's lair. Unable to break in unnoticed, he is captured and tied to a dentist's chair. The Octopus reveals his own origin as well as how he and the Spirit became arch-enemies. Eventually the Spirit manages to escape, but not without sustaining a critical blow.
The Spirit stumbles to the city docks and collapses into the water where he confronts the ethereal Angel of Death, Lorelei Rox (Jaime King), who has haunted his sleep. He becomes the only man to have ever wrongfully escaped death when he manages to gather his senses by remembering Ellen, Sand, and the city all needing him. As the Spirit swims to the surface, Lorelei vows vengeance.
At the projects, Sand and her latest henchman fly in with the Blood of Heracles to meet Floss and a clone carrying the Golden Fleece. After a four-way Mexican standoff, Sand attempts to convince Floss to get out of serving the Octopus before she is killed by the Octopus himself. He asks Floss for the vase. Unable to take a side, Floss drives off as the Spirit suddenly materializes. The Octopus unloads with progressively bigger guns until Dolan's SWAT team storms the area and opens fire. The Octopus gets to the Blood of Heracles and prepares to drink it, but Sand shoots the vase just in time as Morgenstern blows the Octopus up with a handcannon.
Showdown over, the Spirit gives Sand her locket back. They kiss as Ellen looks on, feeling betrayed. The old flames bid each other goodbye and the Spirit convinces Dolan to let Sand go in gratitude for saving the world. Elsewhere, Floss discovers the Octopus’s severed finger crawling toward her. She picks it up and departs saying, "Who knows what I'll do". At dawn, the Spirit stands triumphant on a rooftop with his cat.
Frank Miller and DC Comics president Paul Levitz also have cameo roles in the film. [3]
In the 1970s, director William Friedkin obtained the rights to The Spirit and contacted Will Eisner to write a script for him. Eisner declined but recommended Harlan Ellison, who wrote a two-hour live-action script for the filmmaker. Friedkin and Ellison afterward had an unrelated argument, and the project was abandoned.[12] During the 1980's, Brad Bird, Jerry Rees, and producer Gary Kurtz attempted to get an animated adaptation off the ground, though studio executives praised the screenplay, they thought the film would be unmarketable, and this version was scrapped.[13]
In the early 1990s, producer Michael Uslan and Executive Producers Benjamin Melniker and Steven Maier subsequently obtained the rights for a live-action film adaptation. The producer promised Eisner that he would not permit anyone who "didn't get it" to work on the project. Two ideas pitched to Uslan were to put the Spirit in a costume and to have the Spirit be a resurrected dead man who possessed supernatural powers.[14] Screenwriter John Turman, a comic book fan, expressed interest in writing the script.[15]
In July 2004, financier OddLot Entertainment acquired the rights to the film. OddLot's producers Gigi Pritzker and Deborah Del Pete began a collaboration with Uslan, Melniker and Maier working at Batfilm Productions, to adapt the story. Eisner, who was protective of the rights to his creations, said that he believed in the producers to faithfully adapt The Spirit.[16] In April 2005, comic book writer Jeph Loeb was hired to adapt The Spirit for the big screen,[17] but the writer eventually left the project. Later in April, Uslan approached Frank Miller at Will Eisner's memorial service in New York City several weeks after Miller's Sin City was released in theaters, interested in initiating the adaptation technique with Miller's film for The Spirit.[18] Miller had initially hesitated, doubting his skill in adapting The Spirit, but ultimately embraced his first solo project as writer-director.[14] As Miller described his decision-making, "The only thought in my mind was, 'It's too big—I can't possibly do it.' And I refused. And about three minutes later as I was at the doorway, I turned around and said, 'Nobody else can touch this,' and I agreed to the job on the spot".[3]
In July 2006, the film trade press reported Miller would write and direct the film adaptation for The Spirit ; Miller and the producers publicly announced this at the 2006 Comic-Con International in San Diego, California.[19] Miller said that he was putting together a film treatment that included large parts of The Spirit strip panels. As Miller described the project, "I intend to be extremely faithful to the heart and soul of the material, but it won't be nostalgic. It will be much scarier than people expect".[19] Miller plans to film The Spirit using the same digital background technology that was used for Sin City and 300.[20] The film would also copy specific shots from the comic, similar to Sin City.[21]
In February 2007, Miller completed the first draft of the screenplay, and began work on a second draft.[22] Principal photography was initially slated to begin in late spring 2007.[19] Miller also planned to begin filming Sin City 2 in spring 2009,[23] but Uslan indicated that filming for The Spirit would begin before Miller started Sin City 2.[18] Following the casting of Gabriel Macht as the Spirit in August 2007, filming was re-slated for the following October.[5]
Filming began in October 2007. Filming took place in Albuquerque Studios in New Mexico.[4] The Spirit was shot using Panavision's Genesis digital camera.[24] The films release was originally scheduled for January 16, 2009, but on May 6, 2008, it was announced that the release date would be moved up to December 25, 2008.[18]
The film contains a number of references to Eisner collaborators and other comics personae. These include "Feiffer Industrial Salt", alluding to Spirit ghost writer Jules Feiffer; "Iger Avenue", named for Eisner & Iger partner S.M. "Jerry" Iger; "Ditko's Speedy Delivery", named for Steve Ditko, a comic book artist and writer; and the characters Donenfeld and Liebowitz, played by Richard Portnow and Frank Miller, respectively, who are named for two of DC Comics' founders, Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz.[25]
The Spirit's mysterious Henry Mancini-like soundtrack is by David Newman. Producer Deborah Del Prete said in the movie's production and press notes, "We were very fortunate to have a wealth of choices. After seeing samples of the footage literally everyone we wanted to meet with was very excited about taking on the film. The hardest part was having to say no to so many really great music makers. After consideration, the highly accomplished multiple Academy Award nominee David Newman joined the team. Frank wanted elements of the ‘40s jazz sound married with iconic heroic music and even a touch of the spaghetti western. David was able to bring it all home for us."[26] Newman explained, "It's Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) who has the most elaborate of all the themes, because it's based on her relationship with Denny Colt when they were in their teens, well before he became the Spirit. Saref's music ultimately becomes the love theme of the movie. It’s very romantic, almost old fashioned, especially when they finally kiss. Frank Miller and I talked about that scene quite a bit. He really wanted me to 'go for it' – to make their music as romantic as possible. In the end, the Spirit is like a modern day Don Juan, without the psychological ambivalence towards women. He truly loves every woman he meets. It’s part of his makeup. He has a certain naiveté in this respect."[27]
There is an eerie, wordless soprano for Lorelei (Jaime King) that is performed by Newman's 19-year-old daughter Diana, a vocal major at USC.[28]
Christina Aguilera sings a cover of the classic "Falling in Love Again" in the closing credits of The Spirit. The song dates to 1930, written by Frederick Hollander, with lyrics written by Sammy Lerner. The song was originally sung, and popularized, by Marlene Dietrich in the film The Blue Angel (1930). The song was covered by Billie Holiday (1940), Doris Day (1961), Sammy Davis Jr. (1962), and many others.
At the New York Comic-Con on February 24, 2007, director-screenwriter Frank Miller and producer Michael Uslan were scheduled to present a panel for The Spirit,[29] though Miller was unable to attend due to recuperation from hip and leg injuries.[22] Instead, Uslan, fellow producer F.J. DeSanto, and former The Spirit publisher Denis Kitchen presented a panel at which they described the history of the film and the film's progress.[18]
Titan Books produced a making-of book, The Spirit: The Movie Visual Companion by Mark Cotta Vaz, featuring interviews with the cast and crew, photos, storyboards, and production art. It was released November 25, 2008.
The film was rated PG-13 by the MPAA for "intense sequences of stylized violence and action, some sexual content, and brief nudity" making it Miller's first film to be PG-13.[30]
The film was released on Christmas Day 2008.
The Spirit fared poorly in the box office. Released in 2,509 theaters,[1] The Spirit grossed $10.3 million in its opening four days, placing 9th in the box-office ranking for the weekend.[31] As of May 2009, the film had grossed $19,806,188 domestically and $18,588,842 internationally for a worldwide total of $38,395,030.[1] It was rumored that the movie's poor performance at the box office cost Odd Lot Entertainment tens of millions of dollars in losses as well as causing the demise of the Frank Miller "Buck Rogers" movie, although Odd Lot Entertainment's CEO Gigi Pritzker denied such rumors.[32]
The Spirit was almost universally panned by critics. It received a 14% rating at the movie-review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes,[33] and a Metacritic aggregate rating of 30 out of 100, denoting "generally negative reviews", from 24 reviewers.[34]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said, "There is not a trace of human emotion in it. To call the characters cardboard is to insult a useful packing material".[35] Ricky Bentley of The Miami Herald said, "Macht manages to meld macho with melodrama to make the Spirit come to life."[36]
Frank Lovece of Newsday, a one-time comic book writer, found that "gorgeous cinematography and design can't mask the hollow core and bizarre ugliness of this mishandled comics adaptation", and noted that while Eisner's own Spirit was "an average-Joe [...] in a rumpled suit—a vulnerable but insouciant everyman in humanist fables", Miller's Spirit "now has a superpower—a healing factor. Eisner's own spirit must be spinning in its grave".[37]
Chris Barsanti of Filmcritic.com stated, "It's a frankly gorgeous effect, liberated by the fact that Miller adapted freely from Eisner's panels—the two were longtime friends—to create an organic story instead of slavishly following the master's work", and calling it "one of the year's most refreshingly fun films."[38]
Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, found the movie a "ludicrously knowing and mannered noir pastiche, full of burnt-end romance and 'style', but robotic at its core".[39]
Ken Hanke of Mountain Xpress observed, "The film may not move smoothly—Miller’s too fond of 'just damn weird' digressions for that—but it does move and isn’t hard to follow. Its screwiness is deliberate and it’s all a matter of taste."[40]
Jason Heck of The Kansas City Star summed up, "The Spirit is terrific entertainment. It’s a better and a more complete film than Sin City or 300. Having a comic book genius create a comic book movie is a very, very good idea indeed."[41]
A.O. Scott in The New York Times summed up, "To ask why anything happens in Frank Miller's sludgy, hyper-stylized adaptation of a fabled comic book series by Will Eisner may be an exercise in futility. The only halfway interesting question is why the thing exists at all."[42]
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