Frank Miller has been working on comic books since the 70’s and is famous for creating the graphic novels 300 and Sin City. The Spirit sees his first solo outing behind the camera (he co-directed Sin City with Robert Rodriquez) and while much was expected from this ‘visionary creator’ he unfortunately failed to live up to expectation.

The Spirit aka Danny Dolt (Macht) was a young rookie cop when it he was shot dead on duty. For some unknown reason he came back to life with the ablity to take unlimited amounts of punishment and heal at a phenomenal rate – though not as fast as Wolverine. He now roams the streets of Central City, (who he sees as his one true love) protecting her from the schemes and dealings of his arch enemy the Octopus (Jackson) and his side kick Silken Floss (Johansson). The Spirit also has a bit of an eye for the ladies including Sand Saref (Mendez), an international jewel thief and long lost love. When the Octopus and Sand Saref appears to be working together The Spirit embarks on a mission to find out the truth and soon realises that he and the Octopus have more in common that he thought. 

Miller has decided to stay faithful to the original comics by Will Eisner, but this proves to be less blessing more curse, as the film feels and looks like a 1930’s comic book full of over exaggerated dialogue and over acted characters. The greatest offender has to be Samuel L. Jackson who is so over the top as the Octopus you wonder if this is a joke.

The film also uses a lot of green screen to recreate Central City which Miller has decided should look as if it has been taken straight out of the pages of a comic – literally. This results in what looks like, a mix of animation and live acting which is more effective at alienating those members of the audience who wanted to watch a film rather than read a comic book.

While I’m sure fans of the original comic will enjoyed and appreciate what Miller was attempting to do, the remaining 95% of us will find The Spirit a huge disappointment – it’s all star cast and crew failing to add up to the sum of its parts.