New Poster For The Spirit Looks Better Than The Movie

Yet another poster has been released for the upcoming graphic novel adaption, The Spirit.

The Spirit movie is adapted by Frank Miller, both in terms of writing and direction, but is based on Will Eisner’s old comic strip.  Although the trailer and images look plenty like Sin City, it is not a sequel.  Miller did work with Robert Rodriguez on his adaption of Miller’s Sin City, so it is Miller’s “style” so to speak.  And up until recently, that “style” was evident in the posters for the film.

A few weeks ago, Lionsgate released two posters in an effort to of course promote the film, but also possibly to distinguish it from Sin City.  And although this poster is somewhat similar to the first few, it gives the first real clue as to what the movie is really going to be like cinematically.

As also exemplified in the new trailer, The Spirit will have color, and we’re not talking one color shot in a sea of black and white.  This poster indicates that the film will indeed be in color, but at times black and white.  More than likely, the black/white cinematography of Sin City will be limited to transitions and action sequences–for example, when The Spirit runs on the rooftops of Central City with his distinct red tie, the city will be black with grey smoke.  Shots will be highly stylized with most of the characters wearing black and white outfits, but characters will have color.  It seems there may be less than what we’ve seen from Max Payne but more than Sin City

New poster for The Spirit featuring Gabriel Macht

Beyond just the poster, but based on trailers and clips from the film it’s clear that Miller should just stick to writing.  Miller may have been afraid of someone screwing it up, but he should’ve hired another director of photography.  One that would’ve said, “The images you shot for Sin City were great for Sin City, but they don’t apply here.”  Sticking to the source material is absolutely necessary and Miller has taken some major steps in the wrong direction; showing The Octopus’ face is one of them, but sitting in the director’s chair was his first one.

Miller’s take on film noir is not appropriate for this film and I’m not excited to see it at all.

In the future, do you think Frank Miller should stick to the pen and drop the camera?

The Spirit opens on December 25, 2008.

Source: FirstShowing.net