Title: The Spirit
Director: Frank Miller
Starring: Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Samuel L. Jackson
Release: December 25, 2008
Country: America
Genre: Comedy, Action
Rated: R
First Viewing: May 15, 2009
The Short and Sweet of It
A masked hero saves a city from the evil Octopus while impressing the ladies.
A Bit of a Ramble
At least he impresses the ones in the film. I, on the other hand, found the film boring, misogynistic, and contrived. First, let me say that I loved 300 and Sin City, the films The Spirit seems to be imitating. Misogyny abounds in all three films, but for some reason the women in The Spirit and the way they are treated piss me off more.
First, let's talk about Lorelei, the Angel of Death, who is apparently so infatuated with Denny (The Spirit) that she is never far away. When she has him in her grasp, it is to kiss him, to make him her lover. Then there's Plaster of Paris, an assassin who seduces her victim with a belly/lap dance before slicing him to pieces. Morgenstern is a rookie cop with an obvious need for male validation. Silken Floss is the beautiful but evil assistant to Octopus who is happy to do her job well and be "eye candy".
The two main female characters in the film, and the two main love interests of The Spirit, are Dr. Ellen Dollan and bad girl San Saref. Dollan is a female with a brain, but her obsession with The Spirit makes her one gigantic pushover who loves him and comes back to him no matter how many other women he tries to charm or even makes out with in front of her. Saref, the Spirit's girlfriend from childhood, has only one obsession and only one love: bling.
The men in the film show no respect for any of the women with The Spirit himself willfully seducing every woman around while trying to maintain to the Doctor that she's his only love and trying to convince the audience that he has true, deep feelings for San Saref.
Now, misogyny in film is not an obsession with me; Sin City certainly isn't nice to the girls, but I still loved that movie. But when you combine all of this with a ridiculous script that made what was supposed to be serious funny, and what was supposed to be funny pitiful, and you have a movie that falls far short of its predecessors.
The only reason I didn't turn this film off was Samuel L. Jackson whose oddball Octopus portrayal reasonably kept my interest. I was trying to figure out if he was a samurai, a pimp, or a Nazi.
I remember seeing the trailer for this one and thinking it would be a lame version of Sin City... Guess I was right.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I don't necessarily think that women in Sin City were portrayed from a misogynistic point of view. Sure, it may have seemed that all the women were portrayed as men's wet dreams, but I think that this is both ironic and satirical. The women were so much stronger and more dangerous than men in the movie and were always at least equal to men when it comes to wits and strength. Also, as the comic book (and by extension the movie) is an allegorical whole, it makes sense that it would criticize the way people think of women - by exploiting it.
Yeah, and now I wanna see The Spirit. :D
I watched this movie almost a year ago (you can read what I thought about it here, if you're interested: http://kathy-movielist.blogspot.com/2009/07/watching-tonight-spirit.html ) but it appears you were about as impressed with it as I was. I think you got more out of it, though!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to see it, but never got around to doing so. I might have to pass on it, although now I want to dig out my dvd of Sin City.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I am not the least bit lured to watch these types of movies. I just walked right on by both The Spirit and Sin City.
ReplyDeleteThis was one lame a-- movie in my opinion. And yes, I left it on because of Samuel L, but even he couldn't save it. I enjoyed Sin City because it was differnet and if I remember correctly, the woman may not have been shown in the best light, they at least handled themselves. They kicked butt and took names.
ReplyDeleteThe women in the Spirit did reek of misogyny, that's true. I never relized that before I guess. Good post chicka!
Nikola - Hey! Nice to hear from you again. When we watch Sin City in my film course, we always have a debate on the role of women in the film. They can be seen as both positive and negative representations, so the debate is always lively.
ReplyDeleteKathy - I love that you use Octopus's line to sum up the movie! Awesome.
Jess - Watch Sin City again and leave The Spirit unwatched would be my advice.
Sandy - I enjoy movies like 300 and Sin City, so I get all excited when a new film of the same style comes out.
Jenny - Lame is a great word to describe this film. And thanks!
Yikes! I hadn't even heard of this one. Samuel L Jackson is usually compelling, not matter the role.
ReplyDeleteStacy - Jackson is such a unique character and person, but the movie still didn't work for me.
ReplyDeleteThis movie sounds like a truly surreal experience. Sarah and I really enjoyed your review.
ReplyDeleteStephanie - Thanks. It was a movie I'll remember.
ReplyDelete