The Spirit Blu-ray Review

Will Eisner is a master storyteller and is credited with inspiring many creators and pushing the boundaries of what is possible with graphic novels. Director Frank Miller credits Eisner as a mentor in his own path to becoming a comic book superstar. This is Millers first film on his own and he tries to bring his childhood favorite to life.

Credits:

Director: Frank Miller
Writer: Frank Miller
Based On: The Spirit, created by Will Eisner.
Cast:
Gabriel Macht – The Spirit
Samuel L. Jackson – The Octopus
Eva Mendes – Sand Saref
Dan Lauria – Dolan
Suggested Retail: $39.99

Story:

The Spirit tells the origin story of this iconic hero from the 40’s. He is met and matched by his arch-villain, The Octopus, whose fates are intertwined in a series of events that brings them together time and again in a crescendo of violence and mayhem that turns Central City into a warzone. What results the two can not imagine and Central City will never be the same.

Review:

As far as the movie goes, there were some things I liked about it. Miller and company really takes some risks in pushing the visual medium by making the comic come alive through digital technology. The movie is a good interpretation of the original comic book, but the problem was that today’s audience didn’t seem ready for 40’s fashioned slapstick and action mixed together. If it would have been a bit darker, more like Sin City, I think they very well could have had a hit on their hands. As it was the final product didn’t seem to find an audience with comic fans or with movie goers. It is unfortunate because you can see the promise there, it just didn’t take it far enough to remove the 40's sensibilities and kitsch that made the comic a hit, but didn't translate well onto the screen.

Special Features:

DISC ONE:

• “Green World featurette” – a look at the technical wizardry behind the making of the film.

• “Miller on Miller” featurette – a look at the artistry of Frank Miller.

• “History Repeats” featurette – an in-depth look at the origin of The Spirit as well as Will Eisner’s influence and vision in the comic book world.
• Alternate storyboard ending with voiceovers by Samuel L. Jackson and Gabriel Macht.
• Audio commentary by Frank Miller and Deborah Del Prete.
• MoLog™ - Movie Blog network connected community and interactive movie blog tool set.
• LIONSGATE LIVE™ enabled.
• Theatrical trailer

DISC TWO:

• Standard Definition Digital Copy of the feature film

The special features of this Blu-ray are really great. The three featurettes bring excellent insight into the making of the film, the life of Frank Miller, and the origin of The Spirit and Eisner’s influence on the comic book medium. They are superbly crafted and give a ton of great information that I found very interesting. Hearing Miller take the comic world to task with, "That's how dumb the world of comics is," was classic. Seeing the process and the actors in the green screen environment, as well as how they brought in nuanced details to the scenery and characters was slick.

The commentary was good as well, and hearing Miller's thoughts on the performances, even his own, was nice viewing.

That being said, there were far too few of them to really justify the forty dollar price tag of this Blu-ray set. It felt more like a basic run of the mill DVD. I have personally come to expect more from Blu-ray discs, and although the features were excellent, they were quickly viewed leaving me wanting more. It was good, but not great.