Will Eisner's THE SPIRIT

[Sefton]

Hmmm...I didn't like Sin City and if they're changing his iconic blue to black it gives me a bad feeling about what else may be changed. Too bad they never filmed the version that Harlan Ellison wrote. It would have been great.

 

[The Wolf]

Not just the blue is black, Miller has The Spirit wearing a black shirt instead of a white one also.
He said it will have a 1940s look but also have a timeless feeling, that explains the cell phone Denny Colt is using.
It might be a good movie but I agree: it looks like Frank Miller's The Spirit not Will Eisner's.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Doh!]

If the toys are any indication, they didn't capture the character at all:

http://www.superherotimes.com/newsarchive/003124.php

Oh, wait, he has a hat. Good enough.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I predict that this movie will stink.

 

[jake_fink]

Yeah, I think it will be disappointing. To say the least.

I really can't stand Frank Miller and never could. When I was a sprat and he was doing Daredevil I always wondered why on earth someone who couldn't draw had become a comic artist.

I thought the same thing when I first saw Dilbert.

To make things even worse, he seems to be in a permanent state of arrested development, continuously cranking out relentlessly stupid, shallow and cliched junk that he gussies up for the lads with a little skin and a lot of gore. I suspect he may suffer from some form of mental disability, a failure to mature beyond 14, perhaps.

But, the thought of a Spirit movie by anyone is not very exciting. Some things really ought to stay on the page.

 

[Fletch]

I agree. A Spirit without Eisner is a Spirit without spirit.

I don't care how faithful to the original it might be - some things are just not meant to out-exist their creators. A lot of them are comics. Krazy Kat, for instance — reviving it would be a crime.

 

[jake_fink]

Ah synergy.

By sheer coincidence I saw the trailer earlier today. I believe it is online.

Not very impressive. Some dude running clumsily over the rooftops of "his city" in a suit and lug-soled boots while declaiming bad poetry.
Oh yeah, red tie flaps like that other guy's scarf.... you know, the other guy in black and a hat, the original...

EDIT: Here's the trailer: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1585694&vid=225572

 

[The Wolf]

I wasn't going to make another comment because I felt I made my point. However, after watching the trailer I'm not going to comment on the look or what Miller had to say, I just ask "Why is The Spirit wearing Converses?".

Sincerely,
the Wolf

 

[Doh!]

Isn't it a little too soon for a Sin City remake? That trailer is wrong on every level for The Spirit -- down to the logo.

 

[Lance Uppercut]

It's unfortunate that pretty much the entire Eisner/Spirit lexicon is being kicked to the curb . . . but I'm in no way surprised.

This movie, like the vast majority of main stream films, is a mass-consumption product aimed at the youth demographic. It's making ZERO effort to appeal to a preexisting fan base.

Strictly from an historic (commercial) standpoint, this type of period/genre film will most likely flop. Consider the rich source material of The Shadow, The Phantom, The Rocketeer and then look at the anemic results once those characters hit the big screen.

IMO: A crappy movie adaptation in no way degrades the original source material. Best case scenario is that the movie inspires someone to dig a little deeper and discover the great stuff that came before.

 

[Fletch]

The Alec Baldwin Shadow wasn't too bad - had some good design and atmosphere. But the Billy Zane Phantom was nauseating. Zane was a bulked-up dufus wearing clothes from the Big Shoulder, Low Armhole Shop. Treat Williams(?!) was the baddie, who came off like he was selling time share condos in hell.
"Xander Drax! X A N D E R D R A X! It begins AND ends with X!" lol

 

[Lance Uppercut]

All the movies I mention have redeeming qualities here and there, mostly in the art/production design. Plenty of style but no real meat on the bone.

Take a film like Raiders . . . inspired by and drawing heavily from an established (pulp) genre but becoming an animal all it's own. It exceeded in bringing a certain modern sensibility to a thoroughly retro/period narrative.

Frank Millers effort in bringing The Spirit to the big screen looks like he's trying to sidestep the whole "is this a period movie or not?" thing by setting his movie in a unique, non-fact based universe.

Maybe it'll be well received . . . or maybe it'll be another Sky Captain and the World of Tommorrow.

 

[Selentino]

I wasn't going to make another comment because I felt I made my point. However, after watching the trailer I'm not going to comment on the look or what Miller had to say, I just ask "Why is The Spirit wearing Converses?".

Please say it aint so! That's just wrong. Never have been a FM fan.

 

[UWS Cowboy]

I'm actually a big fan of Miller's run on Daredevil, but I think that's pretty much the only good thing he's done, other than Sin City which is silly but fun. I don't understand the supposed genius of The Dark Knight Returns. I haven't read The Spirit, but I've flipped through a few issues and it certainly looks a lot different than the trailers. This movie looks corny, Miller seems to have replaced all the colorful yet noir elements of the comic book with a more Sin City style, which really isn't what this needs. I guess he thought the converse would be another way of making The Spirit "hip". Bad move.

 

[Lance Uppercut]

I believe the Clive Owen character in Sin City also wore Converse for some reason . . . I don't know what the "logic" is but to me it's quite distracting.

I hope Miller got a nice chunk of endorsement change.

 

[Atomic Glee]

I recall a clip from Miller's "Spirit" movie made it online at some point. It featured the Spirit and Samuel L. Jackson's Octopus fighting in raw sewage, and it had (I swear) cartoony "boink" sound effects. At one point, the Octopus clobbers the Spirit with an old toilet that's laying around.

Thanks, Frank.

(For more evidence of why I'm not a Frank Miller fan, just see "All-Star Batman and Robin.")

I will say this, though - when the Spirit was brought into DC comics in 2007, they hit the artwork out of the ballpark by getting Darwyn Cooke to draw them. For those not familiar, Darwyn Cooke does absolutely awesome retro artwork that's very '40s/'50s in style. Here's a few pieces of his new Spirit work:

 

[J. M. Stovall]

If they had hired Mr. Cooke instead of Mr. Miller it would have been a much better movie.

 

[Edward]

I'm not remorely familiar with Miller's work, really, but I did quite like the Sin City film. I enjoyed its take on the noir genre. I'm open to seeing the new film, even if it's not the period-piece that it seems most werev looking for.

More to the point, seeing The Shadow has been mentioned, does anyone know anything about the Sam Raimi version that was on the cards? That I'm gagging for.

 

[feltfan]

I will say this, though - when the Spirit was brought into DC comics in 2007, they hit the artwork out of the ballpark by getting Darwyn Cooke to draw them. For those not familiar, Darwyn Cooke does absolutely awesome retro artwork that's very '40s/'50s in style.

I've found everything Cooke does to be 60s style, and this is no
exception. That was the point of the New Frontier stuff. The stuff
you posted looks great, but it sure doesn't bring what is great about
Eisner's Spirit to mind. Actually, what it brings to mind is 60s great
Jim Steranko. Cooke ought to try his hand at Nick Fury...

What can I add to the film discussion? Miller appears
to be making a film to cash in, with no sensitivity to what makes
The Spirit great. He is also too cowardly to present the controversial
sides of The Spirit, such as Ebony. Cooke made him PC, but at least
he didn't erase a major character.

 

[Serial Hero]

This is one I’ll be skipping! I finally saw the trailer, and what a let down. Miller really has become a one-trick-pony. He found a style that made him a lot of money, and is determined to beat it to death. From the trailer “The Spirit” looks like “Sin City” with a heavy dose of 60’s camp added in; the same camp that turns off movie goers, and killed the Batman franchise (and comic book movies in general) for a long time.