From the creator of "Sin City" and "300" comes another highly stylized movie, this time starring Gabriel Macht and Eva Mendes.
Based on the comic book series created by Will Eisner, The Spirit brings a well-dressed undead hero to the big screen. This visually dazzling motion picture by writer-director Frank Miller combines computer generated images and live action in a tale of adventure about Denny Colt, a murdered police officer, who is mysteriously reborn as a crime fighter devoted to his beloved Central City.
The Cast and Crew of The Spirit
- As The Spirit, Gabriel Macht (from television’s The Others) stars with Eva Mendes (The Women) as the beautiful jewel thief Sand Serif and Samuel L. Jackson (Star Wars) as the evil Octopus. Octopus is aided by his devilish sidekick Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson) and The Spirit gets medical help and emotional support from his own sidekick of sorts, Dr. Ellen Dolan (Sarah Paulson).
- Additional cast members include Jaime King as a bewitching underwater phantom of death; Paz Vega as the cruel exotic dancer Plaster of Paris; Dan Lauria as Commissioner Dolan and father of Ellen; and Louis Lombardi in multiple roles as the Octopus’s cloned henchmen.
- Stana Katic (Quantum of Solace) plays the part of a young cop named Morgenstern, who instantly develops a crush on The Spirit. The character was invented by Miller and is not part of the original comic strip.
- In addition to input from Miller, the distinctive look of the film is brought to life by director of photography Bill Pope (Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, The Matrix trilogy) and senior visual effects supervisor Stu Maschwitz (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sin City).
- Miller calls Will Eisner one of his greatest and earliest inspirations. Comic book creator Eisner introduced The Spirit in 1940 when he was in his early 20s as a stand-alone newspaper insert. Eisner died in January 2005 at the age of 87. At times, he had served as a friend and mentor to Miller.
- Unlike other comic book characters of that time, The Spirit wore no costume like Batman or Superman, but donned a black mask, suit, gloves, tie, and fedora to fight bad guys. In the filmed version of The Spirit, Miller makes the hero’s tie bright red as a stylistic touch not taken directly from the comic strip.
- Deemed contemporary noir, The Spirit stays true to Eisner’s grittiness of the city, while reflecting stylish clothes and cars from the 1950s. The characters, however, use modern-day cell phones and have advanced medicine that allows human cloning and life extension.
The Design of The Spirit
- Computer-generated images and green screen technology give the film its unusual mixture of a comic book that has come to life.
- Production for The Spirit began in October 2007 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was the first feature film to be shot at the newly constructed Albuquerque Studios. Stages 7 and 8 were transformed into a huge green screen stage, a black screen stage and a stunt stage able to change from green to black. During 48 days of filming, more than one hundred actors and stunt players participated in the production.
- To create a lengthy underwater scene with Mendes and Jackson, Pope filmed the scenes using specially designed lighting and a Phantom camera, a high-speed digital model typically used for scientific purposes.
- In order to maintain the perfect makeup and hair on Mendes during this scene, she was suspended in a harness without the use of water at all, although in the movie she appears to swim deep underwater searching for a treasure chest to steal.
The copyright of the article Fast Facts About The Spirit in Action Films/Thrillers is owned by Leslie C. Halpern. Permission to republish Fast Facts About The Spirit in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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