DVD Reviews

The Spirit (Two-Disc Special Edition) – DVD Review

By Lane Law Apr 15, 2009, 14:35 GMT

Before watching The Spirit, my first suggestion is that you pick up some of the original Will Eisner comics. They are short, fun reads.

There's a reason the comic book world's version of an Academy Award is called an Eisner. And Frank Miller is his biggest fan/stalker. Or was till Mr. Eisner passed away. There's a book out there called "Eisner/Miller" in which the latter spends some time with Eisner "Tuesdays with Morrie"-style. I have never read it myself but have heard from several three-color-militants that it's amazing.

Eisner grabbed this freedom and utilized it and knew he could write and draw anything at all that popped out of his head. He could scribble down the craziest stuff and publish it and THEN see if it works.

Miller really adopted this concept and ran with it like a mad genius. I'll warn you now - this movie is one of the oddest things you will ever see if you live to be 150. I did love this movie but I'm not the type to dig a flick just because it's weird. I really enjoyed the characters and the story. While I've read some of the comic, I ain't read enough to tell you how much of the canon has been tweaked. Maybe I'm dissecting the process too much but this movie is just fun. Pulpy, noiry, cartoony fun.

The cast, the filmmakers, everybody - they all really went balls out on this. Louis Lombardi, one of the most entertaining and wide-ranging character actors of our time, delivers 30 of the most original/funny/disturbed characters I've ever seen (he plays cloned henchmen).

We all know how Sam Jackson likes to go crazy in a role on occasion. He also is a man known to love his camp. Samuel L. plays our super villain, The Octopus, and he's absolutely nuts. It's awesome. Beyond awesome.

It's like they're in a playground. I completely understand that the concept is polarizing. Like I said, homeboy made a freak show. It asks a lot of us as its audience.Miller apparently believes that simple old "suspension of disbelief" is for amateurs. He destroys the boundaries of whatever we thought we could take and when we all find ourselves on the other side the rules of our perception have been redefined. It's really gutsy, I think, and from what I've read it didn't work for many. I dig it, though. It's like riding a rollercoaster backwards after mixing behavioral meds and Jägerbombs ... not that I've ever done that.

The women are beautiful and all actually have interesting characters to explore. The action is a blast and the special effects are amazing. It's really sad that the chief visual effects house on this film, The Orphanage, had to shut down as a result of the slow economy. They were doing better work than most.

The special features on the DVD cover the basics and let us look at Frank Miller a little bit. Not much more than that, really. I was hoping for some shot deconstructions but there wasn't much to be found. I hope there's an extended director's cut or something coming out. I'll pick that one up, too.