The Spirit
2008, Action/Adventure, 1h 42m
114 Reviews 100,000+ RatingsWhat to know
critics consensus
Though its visuals are unique, The Spirit's plot is almost incomprehensible, the dialogue is ludicrously mannered, and the characters are unmemorable. Read critic reviews
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Where to watch
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Movie Info
Apparently murdered cop Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) returns as the Spirit, dedicated to protecting Central City from crime. His archenemy, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), is a ruthless killer who will destroy the Spirit's well-loved city to find the secret of immortality. As the Spirit pursues his quarry, he meets many beautiful women who would be happy to either kiss or kill him.
Cast & Crew
Gabriel Macht
Denny Colt, The Spirit
Denny Colt, The Spirit
Samuel L. Jackson
The Octopus
The Octopus
Sarah Paulson
Ellen
Ellen
Eva Mendes
Sand Saref
Sand Saref
Dan Lauria
Dolan
Dolan
Paz Vega
Plaster of Paris
Plaster of Paris
Critic Reviews for The Spirit
Audience Reviews for The Spirit
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Mar 17, 2014[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img]Directors C Super Reviewer
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Jun 05, 2013From Frank Miller comes the atrocious comic book film The Spirit. The story follows an immortal crime fighter who takes on a crime boss known as The Octopus, who's seeking the Blood of Heracles in order to become a god. Starring Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, and Scarlett Johansson, the film is well cast; but their performances are cheesy and over-the-top. Miller does a good job at creating a stylish comic book aesthetic, but the writing is abysmal and kills the film. The Spirit has an interesting noir comic tone, but in the end it just doesn't work.Dann M Super Reviewer
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Dec 07, 2011It's more than a bit perplexing to ponder how The Spirit came to be. Not that one should wonder how another superhero film was greenlit, for that much is obvious. But how is it that Frank Miller got to direct and write his own film? Yes, he was the co-director (allegedly) on Sin City, but so what? How much directing did he actually do on Sin City? What did he learn? I would like to suppose that he didn't learn much at all. Take one look at The Spirit, and you could see why. The Spirit, as this masked viligante is known, is a ghostly masked hero, the only man to have escaped the Angel of Death. Besides that one detail, he's just like any other hero. He has an arch-nemesis who goes by the name of The Octupus, played by Samuel L. Jackson. And just like any hero, he has women to love. One is a femme fatale anti herione, Sand Sarif (Eva Mendes) and the other is Ellan Dolan (Sarah Paulsen) the police commissioners daughter. Sand Sarif was the one that got away. She loved Denny Colt before he was the Spirit. They were close childhood friends, until her father was shot by cops. She fled to Europe to earn those riches she desperately craved and rid herself of her own identity. The biggest problem ( and there are many) is the shallowness of this effort. It's a nice film to look at, but not much else. Looking at this film with it's hyper-noir asthetic, overly reminiscent of Sin City, one get's the feeling that Miller may owe Robert Rodriquez a big royalty check. The characters aren't interesting, and the performances range from stone-faced and wooden to shrieking and hysterical over kill. And while Miller attempts to replicate the noir of his early comics, it all feels like an empty pastiche with no geniune emotion to be found.Brandon S Super Reviewer
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Nov 05, 2011A graphic noir high tech film, written and directed by the graphic novellist 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 classic newspaper comic strip The Spirit by Will Eisner(who by this movie is probably now turning himself in his tomb).This movie is an example of how a great artist like Frank Miller is turned into a poor director in a bad, bad adaptation like this.The plot is extremely ridiculous, the screenplay (incredible, but someone was payed to write this?)is totally imbecil.Only the graphic novel style cinematography escapes from this absolute crapmovie.Andre T Super Reviewer
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