{"id":3216,"date":"2009-06-18T16:29:39","date_gmt":"2009-06-18T15:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/?p=3216"},"modified":"2012-07-06T00:02:15","modified_gmt":"2012-07-05T23:02:15","slug":"blu-ray-review-the-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/reviews\/blu-ray-review-the-spirit\/","title":{"rendered":"Blu-ray review: The Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"the-spirit\"<\/p>\n

\"3-three-stars\"<\/p>\n

Following some truly awful reviews upon its theatrical release at the start of the year, we\u2019d be lying if we said The Spirit\u2019s arrival on Blu-ray was highly anticipated. <\/strong>Based on Will Eisner\u2019s influential Forties comic hero, contemporary graphic novelist Frank Miller writes and directs this adaptation, utilising the same striking greenscreen effects that served big-screen versions of his own works Sin City and 300 so well. Unfortunately, without Robert Rodriguez or Zack Snyder at the helm, the resulting feature is overly reliant on its tongue-in-cheek action and slick visuals. As the Spirit, presumed dead cop Denny Colt (Macht) uses his newfound anonymity and invulnerability to protect Central City from crime, especially the equally indestructible Octopus (Jackson). With his old flames including jewel thief Sand Seref (Mendes), assassin Plaster of Paris (Vega) and surgeon Ellen Dolan, as well as Scarlett Johansson\u2019s sadistic scientist Silken Floss, the Spirit is also something of a sucker for the ladies, but the campy humour seems ill at ease compared to recent superhero fare such as The Dark Knight. The structure of the script also means that by the time the Spirit\u2019s origins are revealed, and the anticlimactic conclusion rolls into sight, most viewers won\u2019t care. Lionsgate has treated The Spirit better than it deserves on Blu-ray, most notably with the inclusion of a 7.1 lossless high-definition soundtrack. The accompanying audio excels at adding an atmospheric layer to Central City, and exhibits particularly impressive dynamics during confrontations with the Octopus \u2013 and meaty effects to go with the over-the-top fisticuffs. The film\u2019s noir style works well on Blu-ray, with flashes of colour such as the Spirit\u2019s blood-red tie breaking up the deliberately crisp, comic-style black and white lines. The AVC transfer needs strong blacks and delivers, but you sense that the way the visuals have been constructed is why detail is generally lacking, with the live-action\/digital hybrid looking flat throughout; actors look like cut outs in the daytime scenes. Again, supplemental material is better than you\u2019d expect for a film of this quality, and Lionsgate should be commended for including all of the extras in HD. A rough, semi-animated storyboard for an alternate ending featuring the voices of Gabriel Macht and Samuel L Jackson is of limited interest, but an interview in which Miller discusses his background and work, and a BD-exclusive featurette on the influence of Will Eisner will delight comic book fans, standing alone in their own right.<\/p>\n

Feature: \"1-one-star\" Extras: \"3-three-stars\" Picture: \"4-four-stars\" Audio: \"5-five-stars\"<\/p>\n

Price: \u00a324.99
\nClassification: 15
\nDiscs: 1
\nDistributor: Lionsgate
\nDirector: Frank Miller
\nStarring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L Jackson, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson
\nReleased: Out now<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following some truly awful reviews upon it\u2019s theatrical release at the start of the year, we\u2019d be lying if we said The Spirit\u2019s arrival on Blu-ray was highly anticipated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":3217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":""},"categories":[2617,8],"tags":[123,662,200],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/06\/the-spirit.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scifinow.co.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}