City, Eisner, movie-goers, comic fans, anyone with even a passing

You know, sometimes the line comes to you before you even read / view the thing. Such was the way with the Spirit movie.......

"The city isn't the only thing screaming Frank....." was going to be my opener in any review of the film, followed by;

"......that's the ghost of Will Eisner, anyone who's ever read any of Eisner's Spirit tales and most people leaving the movie theatre"

Unless, of course, I happened to think (however unlikely it may be) that it was quite good. But CBR went to see it the other day and their review is up now, with the tagline on the front page being:

"Central City isn't the only thing screaming. Frank Miller's intensely stylized screen adaptation of Will Eisner's comic book classic, "The Spirit," leaves Eisner fans with much to be desired, but Gabriel Macht's performance will win over neophytes."

Bugger. However, it does throw up that central question about the film: If, as everyone seems to be saying, Miller took the film on because he was determined that no one else would get their hands on it, so highly did he revere it, then why did he manage to desecrate the entire thing? Either that's the best thing he can do and simple wasn't up to it and completely failed to control the movie. Or he's completely insane and genuinely thinks that Eisner would think this was exactly what The Spirit should have been like.

Back to what Chris Weston said:

Let's face it, being a full-time critic of Miller's work is a gift that keeps on giving.