Someone once described high school, about ten years or so ago, as having too many characters and not enough plot. Ironically, about ten years later, give or take, that same person will have described a movie based on a comic book by a man whose time would have to come–The Spirit.
The plot, such as it is, really isn’t much. A kind of criminal genius–he’s a master of disguise (he changes costume at least five times in the movie) and a genetic engineer, as well as a drug dealer–by the unlikely name of The Octopus is after a rare and powerful artifact containing the blood of Heracles. It’s been chained to a box containing the Golden Fleece, and The Octopus is desperate to get his hands on it because it will combine with his own drug-laced blood to make him a god, or nearly so. But it’s left to an undead cop to find it first. Along the way, said undead cop, now called The Spirit, will hit on literally tons of women that he apparently knew at one point or another.
See what I mean? This sucker isn’t exactly that long on plot. I tell you no small thing when I tell you that The Spirit is going to spend more time macking on chicks than he will actually advancing the plot.
I will admit, however, that when The Spirit DOES spend one of its rare moments actually doing something that moves what little plot there is along, it will do so in a smooth, efficient, and wholly capable fashion. It will offer plenty of action in those segments (watching The Octopus take on a helicopter is a jaw-dropper) even pack plenty of humor into the proceedings, and that’s just awesome. While relative unknown (I literally could not tell you the last movie I saw him in, because I have not clue one what else he’s done) Gabriel Macht handles The Spirit fairly well, it’s not him that’s the best part of the movie. And it’s not one of the ladies that The Spirit will CONSTANTLY throw at us, either, though they generally handle their parts competently and look like they’re having a great time doing it.
No, the clear high point of this whole thing is The Octopus, played by none other than Samuel L. Jackson. The great Sam Jack is handling this one, and man…he’s clearly loving this part. In fact, thanks to this movie, he’s now on my short list of actors who will ALWAYS turn in a good performance no matter how questionable the rest of the movie around them is.
Yes, The Spirit is a downright beautiful movie. It LOOKS fantastic. The characters all look fantastic. Even the little things like clouds of explosions that look like octopi and The Spirit’s trademark red tie all look fantastic.
But from a narrative standpoint this is a vastly overlong movie that never really should have been. It may look pretty but that’s not enough to save it from a really, REALLY, weak sauce script. This is a LOUSY movie. They spent more time introducing characters than they did advancing the plot, and that’s the first through tenth signs of a really, REALLY bad movie.
Way too many characters, and not nearly enough plot. It’s high school, and it’s The Spirit. It’s a fun and pretty little title but it has nothing even resembling substance. It’s a great rental, but not one you’re going to want to keep around.
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