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Eva Mendes caught with her towel off!

So now that I have your attention, welcome to the world of The Spirit, the comic strip insert cum comic book character created by the late, great Will Eisner and brought to the big screen by Frank Miller (300, Sin City).  The 108 minute film is filled with sizzlin’ curves, sexy silhouettes & staggering action.

For those of you unfamiliar with the nearly seventy-year-old character, Eisner created this cop-turned-supernatural protector of Central City. It premiered as a multi-page insert in the Sunday papers during the summer of 1940. An ideal police detective named Denny Colt is killed, yet allowed to live through a special chemical created by Dr. Cobra. He then hides his identity from almost everyone with the exception of a couple of people as he becomes The Spirit, a crime-fighter who helps the law, but doesn’t always agree with their techniques, very much like Batman.

Although the character has been around for awhile, Miller’s vision of the character keeps The Spirit within the realm of something that feels a bit like a film noir picture. We never really find out the date. The vehicles and architectural styles are kept vague enough that a date can’t be pin-pointed, even when the character is asked what year it is, but the era feels like it may have when the character debuted.

Miller adds his own characteristic style to the film, as well. Anyone familiar with the Sin City comic books or movie will see similarities with the use of color, black-and-white, high contrast, etc.  and is shot with digital environments in much the same way. Miller, who co-directed Sin City with Robert Rodriguez, takes his leap into his directorial solo debut. Although he doesn’t stick quite true to the Eisner characters and creation, he reveres it and his idol enough to play it very close.

In Miller’s version, The Octopus (Samuel “I want to be in every comic book movie” Jackson plays a demented man who wants to become a god and rule the world. He is assisted by Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson) and a bunch of lab-grown flunkies who are all played by Louis Lombardi, all as a genetic clone of one another but differentiated by the name on their shirts. He, not Dr. Cobra, administers the chemical to Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) using him as a guinea pig which, in turn, keeps him re-animated before giving an injection to himself. The movie basically starts with a lengthy battle between the two to make the point that these two are somewhat immortal. Quite honestly, the scene gets a bit hokey and a little long.

This is followed by the introduction of Dr. Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson), who used to have a thing with Denny but can’t figure out that the same man is The Spirit underneath the little masquerade mask that he wears, even though she is the one who is constantly checking him over when he gets injured. Her father is Commissioner Dolan (Dan Lauria), who has a love/hate relationship with The Spirit, primarily because The Spirit takes matters into his own hands as well as the fact that he takes about any “skirt” into his own hands. The commissioner doesn’t want to see his daughter emotionally/romantically hurt by The Spirits’ philandering. (But the character and comic were always more mature than Archie or Batman when it came to the romance.)

The next introduction is a lengthy flashback into Denny’s past as a teen and his girlfriend Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), whose life is changed after a tragic accident and she never sees Colt again for many years. We learn about her passion for shiny things, so she becomes a jewel thief, much like Catwoman. That wasn’t the way Eisner originally envisioned her, like many of the other characters mentioned so far, but it works for the film.

As a matter of fact, Sand’s desire for shiny is the crux of the plot. She has tracked down the ultimate shiny item, which is in one of two steamer trunks. During a gun battle with The Octopus the two trunks become separated. The Octopus manages to get ahold of one of the trunks. He gets the trunk she wants while she ends up with the trunk containing a vase with a very special content that The Octopus wants. Everyone else is caught in the middle of their battle for ownership.

Three other semi-major players in the movie are Lorelei (Jaime King) a water-residing version of Death who is seen in a very cool, yet obscure way; Plaster of Paris (Paz Vega), a knife and sabre wielding beauty from France (in reality,she is Spanish) who also has a love/hate relationship with The Spirit; Morganstern (Stana Katic), a tough, smart rookie on the police force who likes to play with the big boys and big toys.

The violence and bloodshed isn’t as graphic as in the majority of Miller’s books and films, but it has its moments which are played off with dark humor. All I can say is that Donenfeld and Muffin meet untimely deaths.

The dialogue is a combination of the noir style, with some of it being a bit like the old detective talk in the movies of the Golden Era, and a bit more modern vernacular. There is quite a bit of vulgarity, primarily from Dolan and Octopus, so don’t think this is going to be Bogey or Cagney talking throughout the film.

The saucy ladies and the semi-clothed Spirit have their fair share of moments throughout the film. The one time we do see Lorelei in a scene with The Spirit, her clothing is scant, but not quite revealing. Dr. Dolan has a moment with The Spirit, as well that isn’t totally revealing, but more so than you may want to take your 10-year-old to see. Although she doesn’t have a make-out scene with The Spirit, Silken Floss also wears some revealing outfits. (Does anyone else wonder if these characters are partially responsible for Ian Fleming’s Bond character names and actions?) The biggie is Sand Saref when she has a brief moment that doesn’t even include briefs as she is ordered to put her hands up, which involves her towel dropping to the floor as she walks away behind a screen to change into something sexy.

Despite a scene or two being a little over-the-top and the fact that Macht sounds and looks a little too much like Christian Bale in Batman, the movie is quite entertaining in both its action and humor, which fits Eisner’s stylization of the characters. It also has a few nods to others in the industry, including Morganstern’s necklace, probably worn in honor of Eisner, the (Steve) Ditko delivery van that is in the final climatic scene and the anatomy drawing of The Spirit drawn by Geof Darrow. The storyboards, or possibly they were drawings created specifically for the end credits, also seem to be Miller drawing The Spirit in his style. (Miller also has a cameo early in the movie where, once again, something happens to his head. You know what I mean if you’ve seen most of Miller’s cameos.)

The Spirit comes out Christmas Day, but don’t confuse it with a ghost from Charles Dickens. Also, don’t ruin it for yourself by watching the Lionsgate trailers. Not that there is anything wrong with the trailers or the interviews with the stars, but the trailers give away a lot of the movie. Even the B-roll behind-the-scenes footage gives away some of the movie. If you don’t like the story ruined, save the trailers for after you’ve seen the movie.

The Spirit isn’t the best comic-book related movie to ever hit the the big-screen, but you will get your bang for your buck.

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