Review of The Spirit (2008) by Matthew T — 01 Oct 2015

I'm putting myself out on a limb here. You may want to call in the boys at the funny farm to come and lock me up, but I really thought this movie was fun. The obvious comparison is (as with Sin City) to Dick Tracy but as well to Tim Burton's Batman. However it also has me nostalgic for all those movies that came out in the early and the mid 90's from the Shadow to the Crow. Now granted these movies were not all universally liked, partially due to the fact that, like their comic book source material, the films focused more on character, mood and theme, than on actual plot development. The formula was simple: charismatic villain squares off with the straight man vigilante who lurks in the shadows. The fun was all in the stylization of the story telling from elaborate film sets, fashionable costumes, quirky characters, a tinge of morbidness, sweeping music scores, and lots of gun play and fisticuffs. And voila that is exactly what you get in the Spirit. I always argued that with all the emphasis on style these films are the real art house movies and critics who focused solely on plot often miss the point.

Well one day my hope is that people's attitude changes towards films that just seek to have fun playing in the mean twisted (art designed) streets. But all the same I won't hold my breath.