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66
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44
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43
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35
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68
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30
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67
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55
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65
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53
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76
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66
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83
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47
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75
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79
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73
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37
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47
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81
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73
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60
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56
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55
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Spirit, The
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 24 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 72 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Drama
Written by:
Frank Miller
Will Eisner
Directed by: Frank Miller
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 25, 2008
DVD: April 14, 2009
Running Time: 103 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for intense sequences of stylized violence and action, some sexual content and brief nudity
Starring Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, Sarah Paulson, Paz Vega, and Jaime King
The Spirit is the story of Denny Colt, a murdered cop who is mysteriously reborn as the masked crime fighter called the Spirit. Determined to keep his beloved Central City safe, the Spirit pursues Central City’s villains from the shadows and seeks to remove to the worst of them all: the psychotic megalomaniac known as the Octopus. Yet as busy as his ongoing mission keeps him, the dashing crusader always manages to make time for beautiful women, though he never quite knows if they want to seduce, love or kill him. But there is one lady who will never betray him, and to whom he will always be true: Central City, the proud old metropolis where he was born – twice. (Lionsgate)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
USA Today Claudia Puig
The Spirit is uneven, but its campy adventure provides some amusing, escapist fun.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
Should make comic modern-day fanboys happy, what with its dark undertones, its beat-it-to-a-pulp action and its sly winks at comic greats past and present. Everyone else, including fans of Will Eisner's original Spirit, may find themselves wondering what all the fuss is about.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The result is a great-looking movie with an awkward balance of pulp noir and campy self-awareness.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
What a shame that The Spirit isn't nearly as good as it looks.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
There are good things to be said about The Spirit, but not enough of them to outweigh the bad.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
As the vamps, Eva Mendes and Scarlett Johansson might be posing for a fashion spread with just one note to play -- gorgeous high-bitch mockery.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Sam Adams
Miller's flat, humorless yarn is set in Central City, a vacant metropolis whose only residents seem to be cops and crooks.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
What is most striking about The Spirit is how little pleasure it affords, in spite of its efforts to by sly, sexy, heartfelt and clever all at once.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
Miller seems to have brought neither his brains nor his heart (both of which we know he's got) to this project. The style is willing. But the spirit is weak.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
With its starkly contrasted visuals (fierce blacks, Clorox whites, a dash of unholy crimson), The Spirit may resemble a comic book more than any live-action film yet made, but it makes "Max Payne" look like a gleaming jewel of storytelling by comparison.
Read Full Review >Premiere Jordan Burchette
Not charming, but not cynical, The Spirit is wholly unrecommendable, but made with greater care than many movies that are.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
The movie's cleverest idea is to give the Octopus identical clone henchmen with names like Phobos, Logos, and Huevos, all played by Louis Lombardi with a marvelous fat-boy idiot grin.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Maybe if there was something going with the dialogue - snappy Chandlerisms, say, or even just sentences that made sense - the fussy digital artifice of The Spirit wouldn't seem so, well, dispiriting.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Robert Wilonsky
The fanboys will find room in their heart to forgive the desecration. Everyone else won't care at all.
Read Full Review >Variety Justin Chang
Plunges into a watery grave early on and spends roughly the next 100 minutes gasping for air.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Carina Chocana
Doesn't just play like a cheap "Batman" knockoff, it plays like a cheap "Batman" knockoff that knows it's a cheap "Batman" knockoff -- and wants to be sure everybody knows it knows.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Ultimately, it's a long, incoherent mess of a film, enlivened only by the sure knowledge that the great Will Eisner's original is available to one and all at your nearest comic-book shop.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The Spirit is mannered to the point of madness. There is not a trace of human emotion in it. To call the characters cardboard is to insult a useful packing material.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Only Sarah Paulson, as the Spirit's doctor and sometime lover, seems to be in there playing the scenes as if she were a human being in a comic book superhero scenario, as opposed to a comic book character stuck in a cruddy movie.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
The Spirit feels like the follow-up to "Batman & Robin" no one wanted.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Miller clearly wanted to make an impression, and that he does. Maybe it's better to be remembered for one of the worst movies of the year than forgotten for a mediocre one.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
The movie is a septic tank of vapid noir posturing, bad narration, bizarre pacing, cartoonishly hot femme fatales and ineptly staged slapstick.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Throwing your $10.25 down a storm drain is a better idea; at least that way you won't feel the added self-loathing of wasting more than an hour and a half of your life watching Eva Mendes in the worst acting job of her career.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 4.5 (out of 10) based on 72 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Nick R. gave it a10:
I absolutely loved this movie. As a fan of the comics and Frank miller, I found this movie Sexy, Cool and Fun.
Dre H gave it a10:
Loved the Noir Style, Loved the cinematography But could of been better.
Kendo J gave it an8:
Great movie! It's not Sin City or 300 but it's still a 'fun' movie with all the cinematographic brilliance we've come to expect from Frank Miller's movies. 1 part Cheese, 3 parts Awesome.
Tanner J gave it a2:
The Spirit is a mess. Granted sometimes it is an entertaining mess. It's not funny, exciting, well acted(especially the lead guy) and the story is nonexistent.
Keenan S gave it an8:
I honestly don't think The Spirit was as bad as a lot of people said it was. I actually enjoyed it for what it was. It was stylish and actually funny. Sure the dialogue is campy and dumb, but this was a really fun film to watch.
Phillip H. gave it a9:
This was an excellent film, but I feel it was very misunderstood. First of all, its a comedy. It parodies a number of comic books and their film adaptations. If you just realise that it is intentionally ridiculous and don't get strung up on the cheesy plot, you'll see that this film is a masterpiece.
Alex H gave it a0:
I just want to ask Frank Miller one question... "What were you thinking?!"