Frank Miller is banking pretty hard on the whole “sex sells” idea in this new trailer for his movie of Will Eisner’s classic comic book The Spirit. The black, white and red motif looks like a page torn right out of Miller’s Sin City, despite the director’s protests that he’s not copying his first movie. What follows is a parade of “OMG, look at the celebrity hotties in my movie,” dotted with some strange acid-hit moments. One thing that does fit in this crazy trailer is eye-linered Samuel L. Jackson as arch-villain The Octopus. I don’t know if I agree with the casting, but Jackson’s nutso attitude fits in well with this “vision.”
Let’s disregard the godawful late-90s rock music in the background for a moment, and focus on the big bad. First, you’ve got a ton of things going on that make no sense. The Spirit is seen climbing across big fat lady lips, that’s a bit jarring. Next there’s the dialogue: it’s rotten. It reeks of trying too hard. “You’re so close,” coos Lorelei. Finally, the barrage of Hollywood hotties seems more like a desperate play for sexiness than picking the right actor for each role.
One good thing about this trailer is we finally get to see more of the actual Spirit (Gabriel Macht) it looks like he’ll make a good Denny Colt, but I’m ready to see the darker side come out of this actor.
