"His soul stretched tight across the skies/ That fade behind a city block . . .' T. S. Eliot, Preludes
Because writer Frank Miller knows a bit about comic books, his solo directorial debut (He co-directed Sin City with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino) is a feast of comic book campy dialog, outrageously curvaceous women, and a reborn hero, Spirit, whose abs compete very nicely, thank you, with those women's notable parts. It's all about the mythological struggle of good and evil with visual delights and a bunch of bright dialog.
Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) is a former cop, recently dead, come back as Spirit, an avenger trolling the city for the very alive bad guys, especially Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), who kills indiscriminately, especially those who dare to look at his face (As he hits Spirit over the head, he says, "Come on! Toilets are always funny!"). Mostly his plan to wipe out the city holds Spirit's attention.
Spirit's voice-over narration about the city may not be T. S. Eliot, but it has poetry about it as Spirit extols the city's feminine qualities that make it his girl. Well, that's a bit of a stretch because Spirit spends a good deal of time seducing most of the skirts he meets with a special eye for childhood sweetheart Sand Saref (Eva Mendes), now a notorious global jewel thief and implicated in murders in Spirit's own Central City:
The Spirit: "There probably isn't a law in the books that you wouldn't break." Sand Saref: "Do I look like a good girl?"
The comparisons with Sin City are inevitable but not difficult because Miller seems to be approaching Spirit as visually more stylized and plot less complicated. Even the narration and dialog are minimized and more exaggerated, but to good effect.
Spirit is one of the best movies of the year: an imaginative take on a comic book character that visually stuns and verbally amuses.
Can't ask for more than that this Oscar year.
