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| ==Reception== | ==Reception== | ||
| The film has received generally |
The film has received generally mixed reviews from critics. As of December 26, 2008, it has a 16% positive rating from 49 reviews on the movie-review aggregate site ], the consensus being, "Though its visuals are unique, ''The Spirit''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s plot is almost incomprehensible, the dialogue is ludicrously mannered, and the characters are unmemorable".<ref></ref> ] of the '']'' said, "There is not a trace of human emotion in it. To call the characters cardboard is to insult a useful packing material".<ref>, '']'', December 23, 2008</ref> ] of '']'', and a one-time comic book writer, found that, "Gorgeous ] 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 ]. Eisner's own spirit must be spinning in its grave".<ref>, '']'', December 24, 2008</ref> ] of '']'', noting that he "stand outside the circle of comic-book obsessives", found the movie a "ludicrously knowing and mannered noir pastiche, full of burnt-end romance and 'style, but robotic at its core".<ref>, '']'', December 23, 2008</ref> ] in '']'' 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".<ref>, '']'', December 25, 2008</ref> The film ranked number nine its opening weekend, earning $6.5 million for the three-day period and $10.4 million since its Thursday Christmas release.<ref>Cieply, Michael, , '']'', December 28, 2008</ref> | ||
| ==Footnotes== | ==Footnotes== | ||
Revision as of 17:57, 29 December 2008
2008 United States film| The Spirit | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Frank Miller |
| Written by | Comics: Will Eisner Screenplay Frank Miller |
| Produced by | Michael Uslan |
| Starring | Gabriel Macht Samuel L. Jackson Scarlett Johansson Eva Mendes Dan Lauria Sarah Paulson Stana Katic Jaime King Louis Lombardi |
| Cinematography | Bill Pope |
| Edited by | Gregory Nussbaum |
| Music by | David Newman |
| Distributed by | Lions Gate Entertainment OddLot Entertainment |
| Release date | December 25, 2008 |
| Running time | 100 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Spirit (also known as Will Eisner's The Spirit in promotional materials) is a Template:Fy American police-superhero noir film adaptation based on the newspaper comic book supplement of the same name created by Will Eisner. Batfilm, OddLot, and Lionsgate produced the film. Frank Miller wrote and directed the film, which stars Gabriel Macht as the Spirit and Samuel L. Jackson as his nemesis, the Octopus. Filming began in October 2007, with release 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.
The protagonist is involved in a love triangle with Sand Saref and Ellen Dolan, the daughter of Central City's Police Commissioner Dolan. The controversial character Ebony White does not appear in the film.
Cast/Characters
- Gabriel Macht as Denny Colt / The Spirit: A rookie cop who returns from the dead to fight crime in Central City from the shadows. Miller had required actors who wanted the starring role to audition, and Macht was able to attain the role in August 2007.
- Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus: A villain who plans to wipe out all of Central City and will kill anyone unlucky enough to see his face. Jackson was Miller's first choice for the role and was cast in May 2007. Jackson, Frank Miller, and the costume designer went through the various scenes of the film to design costumes to fit the scenery. They included a samurai suit to fit an Asian setting, a Nazi costume to fit a torture setting, a "George Clintish" suit with a large hat and coat, and a "gold kind of paisley coat at the end, the rich fur and the gloves" for a gun scene. When asked about the change from the Octopus just being recognized by a pair of gloves in the comics to the various costumes, Jackson stated "It's just an opportunity to be larger than life to take the Octopus's theme of dressing the way he feels everyday, or having a theme to his day to day life and making some sense with it. And hopefully the audience will take the ride with us".
- Scarlett Johansson as Silken Floss: A femme fatale scientist and accomplice to the Octopus.
- Eva Mendes as Sand Saref. The actress told director Frank Miller that she wanted to work with him on The Spirit before she had seen a script for the film.
- Sarah Paulson as Dr. Ellen Dolan: The police commissioner's daughter.
- Dan Lauria as Commissioner Dolan.
- Stana Katic as Morgenstern.
- Johnny Simmons as Young Denny Colt.
- Louis Lombardi as Phobos: One of the Octopus's henchmen.
- Jaime King as Lorelei Rox: A phantom siren.
- Paz Vega as Plaster of Paris: A murderous French nightclub dancer.
- Meeghan Holaway as Holly.
- Seychelle Gabriel as Young Sand Saref.
Production
In the early 1990s, producer Michael Uslan obtained the rights to Will Eisner's 1940s newspaper-supplement comic book series The Spirit 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 really be a resurrected dead man that possessed superpowers. Screenwriter John Turman, a comic book fan, expressed interest in writing the script.
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, 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. In April 2005, comic book writer Jeph Loeb was hired to adapt The Spirit for the big screen, 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. Miller had initially hesitated, doubting his skill in adapting The Spirit, but ultimately embraced his first solo project as writer-director. 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".
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. 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". Miller plans to film The Spirit using the same digital background technology that was used for Sin City and 300. The film would also copy specific shots from the comic, similar to Sin City.
In February 2007, Miller completed the first draft of the screenplay, and began work on a second draft. Principal photography was initially slated to begin in late spring 2007. Miller also plans to begin filming Sin City 2 in late spring, but Uslan indicated that filming for The Spirit will begin before Miller starts Sin City 2. Following the casting of Gabriel Macht as the Spirit in August 2007, filming was re-slated for the following October. It took place in Albuquerque Studios in New Mexico.
The Spirit was shot using Panavision's Genesis digital camera.
The film contains a number of references to Eisner collaborators and other comics personae. These include "Feiffer's 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 Donenfeld and Liebowitz, characters played by Richard Portnow and Frank Miller, respectively, and named for two of DC Comics' founders, Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz.
Marketing
At the New York Comic-Con on February 24, 2007, director-screenwriter Frank Miller and producer Michael Uslan was scheduled to present a panel for The Spirit, though Miller was unable to attend due to recuperation from hip and leg injuries. 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.
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".
The film was released Christmas Day 2008.
Reception
The film has received generally mixed reviews from critics. As of December 26, 2008, it has a 16% positive rating from 49 reviews on the movie-review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, the consensus being, "Though its visuals are unique, The Spirit's plot is almost incomprehensible, the dialogue is ludicrously mannered, and the characters are unmemorable". 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". Frank Lovece of Newsday, and 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". Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly, noting that he "stand outside the circle of comic-book obsessives", found the movie a "ludicrously knowing and mannered noir pastiche, full of burnt-end romance and 'style, but robotic at its core". 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". The film ranked number nine its opening weekend, earning $6.5 million for the three-day period and $10.4 million since its Thursday Christmas release.
Footnotes
- "Lionsgate conjures 'The Spirit' with Odd Lot Entertainment and visionary filmmaker and graphic novelist Frank Miller". Comics2Film. May 16, 2007. Retrieved 2008-09-18. (no longer links to article)
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (2008-05-06). "Christmas gets Frank Miller's 'Spirit'". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) Cite error: The named reference "panel" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ Kit, Borys (2007-09-25). "Miller's 'Spirit' finds love with Paulson". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-09-25.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (2007-08-02). "Gabriel Macht to star in 'Spirit': Sony picks up rights to comicbook adaptation". Variety. Retrieved 2007-08-03.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Siegel,Tatiana (2007-05-18). "Miller sees Jackson as evil 'Spirit'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-05-18.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Adler, Shawn. "Samuel L. Jackson Takes Us through His 'Spirit' Wardrobe", MTV.com "Splashpage", July 26, 2008
- Kit, Borys (2007-08-17). "It's a triple feature for Johansson". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Kit, Borys (2007-08-22). "Mendes moved to join 'Spirit'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
- Carroll, Larry (2007-10-10). "Eva Mendes Has 'The Spirit'". MTV. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
- ^ McNary, Dave (2007-10-08). "Pair joining 'Spirit' squad". Variety. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
- ^ Jordan, Justin (2007-02-25). "NYCC, XTRA: "Will Eisner's The Spirit" Panel". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
- Worley, Rob (2003-06-01). "Countdown To Hulk: John Turman talks about Hulk and other heroes". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved 2008-06-13.
- Michael, Fleming (2004-07-22). "Odd Lot, Batfilm join forces for 'Spirit'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
- Mohr, Ian (2005-04-05). "Loeb will get into 'The Spirit'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
- Lovece, Frank. "Spirit guide: Frank Miller adapts Will Eisner's cult comic", FilmJournal.com, December 22, 2008
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (2006-07-18). "Odd job for Miller". Variety. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - Moro, Eric (2006-11-09). "Exclusive: Frank Miller Talks The Spirit". IGN. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
- Carle, Chris (2007-02-24). "NYCC 07: The Spirit". IGN. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
- ^ Gopalan, Nisha (2007-02-23). "With NY Comic Con kicking off, it's (Frank) Miller time". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-02-24.
- Spelling,Ian (2007-02-23). "Miller: Sin 2 Is Ready To Go". Sci Fi Wire. Retrieved 2007-02-26.
- "The Orphanage Brings VFX And DI Processes Together With Film Master". broadcastbuyer.tv. 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
- Lovece, FilmJournal.com sidebar: "The Annotated Spirit: A Guide to the Movie's In-joke References"
- "NYCC Announces More Special Guests; Important Deadlines". Comic Book Resources. 2007-01-29. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
- "Latest MPAA Ratings: #119". 2008-08-27. Retrieved 2008-08-29.
- RottenTomatoes.com: The Spirit
- Ebert, Roger. The Spirit (review), Chicago Sun-Times, December 23, 2008
- Lovece, Frank. The Spirit (review), Newsday, December 24, 2008
- Gleiberman, Owen. The Spirit (review), Entertainment Weekly, December 23, 2008
- Scott, A.O. "Returned From the Dead, Ducking Villains and Vixens", The New York Times, December 25, 2008
- Cieply, Michael, "Star-Filled Releases Draw Well at Box Office", The New York Times, December 28, 2008
References
External links
- The Spirit at IMDb
- Template:Amg title
- The Spirit at Metacritic
- The Spirit at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Spirit at Box Office Mojo
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