The Spirit

Hero cop Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) returns from the beyond to watch over Central City. While combating the usual forces of evil “The Spirit”, as  he likes people to call him, also has to duke it out with his arch-nemesis (every superhero’s gotta have one), The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson). With a God complex in tow The Octopus is your typical mad scientist villain hell bent on world domination.

Taking its visual cues from Frank Miller’s earlier work, Sin City, The Spirit unfortunately doesn’t match the former’s style - or substance. Miller’s direction is uninspiring and his decisions confounding. Filled with hammy one-liners and tired exposition, the film is campy one minute and straitlaced the next.

Amongst the confusion, the actors do their best with what they’re given. Scarlett Johansson delivers her lines with bored abandon while Jackson’s super villain is ridiculously maniacal. Eva Mendes manages to smolder despite being saddled with thin material and a dubious name.

Leading man Gabriel Macht is nothing to write home about. By turns goofy and mannered, Macht’s hero is more lame than affecting - which pretty much sums up the movie.