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Frank Miller's The Spirit Gets a Funky New Trailer

by Alex Billington
July 14, 2008
Source: Film School Rejects

You might not understand what I mean by funky right now, but once you watch this new trailer for Frank Miller's The Spirit, you will understand what I mean. I'm sure we're going to see a lot more footage than this next week at Comic-Con, but until then, this will have to hold us over. To be honest, I can't even explain what the heck is going on. There is a lot of excessive stylized visuals in this, which might be a problem for some people, but I actually think it doesn't look that bad - despite it doesn't explain any of the story of any of what's happening yet. Although this trailer isn't at all impressive, I've still got high hopes for the movie in the end. And some of the scenes near the end of the trailer actually give me hope - I think it could be pretty badass. Hopefully Frank Miller doesn't let us down, but he hasn't so far has he?

Thanks to our friends at Film School Rejects for uncovering this trailer. Let us know what you think?!

Watch the new trailer for The Spirit:

Trailer removed at the request of Lionsgate. Sorry guys!

Adapted from the legendary comic book series created by Will Eisner, The Spirit is a classic action-adventure-romance written for the screen and directed by genre-twister Frank Miller. It is the story of a former rookie cop who returns mysteriously from the dead as the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. His arch-enemy, the Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson) has a different mission: he's going to wipe out Spirit's beloved city as he pursues his own version of immortality. The Spirit tracks this cold-hearted killer from Central City's rundown warehouses, to the damp catacombs, to the windswept waterfront... all the while facing a bevy of beautiful women who either want to seduce, love or kill our masked crusader.

The Spirit is both written and directed by legendary comic book author Frank Miller, who previously worked with Robert Rodriguez to direct segments of Sin City. The film is based Will Eisner's newspaper comic strip of the same name that originally debuted in 1940. The Spirit will hit theaters everywhere on December 25th, Christmas Day, later this year.

Filed under Hype, Opinions, To Watch

From around the web:

Garrett.king

you're right..that is funky...it smells terrible.
Marcus

I don't know about it...It looks okay and I agree how you say that the visuals might turn some people off, but I guess we have to wait and see. Hopefully we get some more footage in the near future.....
http://www.firstshowing.net D. Buxton

I think it looks funky as in old school saying of it's going to kick butt... Hope for more to come
Boris Van Der Ree

Ohmy god, this is everything I wanted (and expected). I am %200 more excited for this than I was before. I've read the comics, and they're brilliant. This is going to be like James Bond, Sin City, and Dick Tracey all rolled into one, and the high you get from that is epic.
http://cinexcellence.com Cinexcellence

Ugh.
Garrett.king

Boris Van Der Ree (@4)... James Bond, Sin City and Dick Tracey...I can't stand James Bond or Dick Tracey..they're really boring. Sin City's great..in small doses..don't own it yet, but want to. So I guess I'll pass on it, at least for it's theatrical run.
darrin

i'll be honest it was looking good till the ending with sam jackson. anyway im glad the plot hasn't been told in the trailers. i really hate that.
http://www.skonmovies.com/ Sean Kelly

The film looks good, but it definitely needs a better trailer.
Wicked

Looks like a twisted trailer for a porn movie
Nettle

I'm confused. Is this about the women or his adventuring? How much are the girls going to play into this?
Dave V.

So the Spirit is a man whore! Sweet! On another subject, Samuel L. Jackson plays a black Nazi? What's next...Denzel the Klansman?! CRRRAAAZZY!!
Blake B

Hmm.. That left a really bad Grindouse-ish after taste.. It still doesn't look as stupid as that movie was (actually DeathProof rocked, the other one sucked anus) But it did not catch my interest at all..I really wanted to like this film. O'well better luck next time =/
Jesse

I read tht new Spirit comic, and this well doesn't feel like the Spirit. Well same old Miller, he loves writing his women as whores.
Nugeman

What's the song playing in the trailer???
Goudos

So, is Miller aiming to make the first NC-17 comic book movie here? All I'm seeing is hot and naughty girls and a hero who scores like Jordon in his prime. If that's the way it is then let Howard Chaykin make some movies as well (in for a penny, in for a pound)! Black Kiss--Christmas 2009!
Curits

didn't think much of the trailer to flashy and weird for my likings, i really want The Spirit to be good but at the moment it doesn't seem like it will.
Dylan

Looking good
mike

i dont know about you guys but i came 30 times watching the first teaser trailer and 15 times watching this one too
Nthngmn

i have no idea what that was.
http://www.zigwa.com James

(scratches head) ugh... I dunno.
http://handfulofwires.blogspot.com DCompose

There's nothing wrong with a trailer that examines one specific angle of the story. If it turns out they hype this thing big there'll be a bunch more of these. And then we'll know what it's about. And... hey, holy shit, it might turn out to be good...?....!
LW

to 11, The Spirit had always been a big "man whore" ^^, if you excuse the term. I've read through a collection of works by Will Eisner's, 'The Spirit' , ((which, btw, is a lot more light-hearted then the trailer shows ^^)) and he does indeed make plenty of man-lovin to various women. I hope this isn't a spoiler, but if you want to know his "powers", he's basically like a 'light-hearted' batman: - an all-natural at self-defense, pulls of moves with like, a crazy amount of ease. - stealthy - obviously high charisma - super reflexes - decent agility ... if anyone else has something to add, go ahead. That's just from the top of my head right now :/
David

shut up and suck.
boomboom

AHHH not Sin City style agian. Well I never seen a porno like that with special effects maybe Ill go see this.
Zach Forrester

It's just that Frank Miller (and I love him) has some serious, serious women issues... he dwells on them too much. I like the Spirit, i love Miller's work, the movie looks solidly produced, but this is the wrong trailer to play if they want to appeal to anyone outside of Eisner or Miller fans.
John

I still think it looks pretty cool. I hate how everyone just bashes these movies before actually seeing them. It could suck, or it could kick ass, but we wont know till its out. True the trailer is a little odd, but im glad that it has that different feel to it. I havent been disappointed by Frank Miller yet, so I see no reason to doubt him.
harrison

wierd, looks good though, always up for samuel l jackson. and looks like hes certainly got the numerous beautiful women department covered as well
Rudolph

Ho ho ho! Santa is delivering you a bomb for Christmas.
Will S. (Co. Springs)

Snagged the original poster for this a few days ago. I have faith in Frank Miller. Honestly, with that many beautiful women in one movie, it'll at least be visually pleasing! I'm anxiously awaiting another trailer just to it'll set abet my butterflies.
feras

is this action movie or sex movie
John

Another sexist comic book movie for adolescent boys! Whoo-hoo! Hopefully it will bomb and make no money, but the boys in Hollywood will just keep cranking them out for you dolts anyway.
dom

This could go the same way Mutant Chronicles will... poor cheesy envirnoments that just dont gel with the rotoscoped characters - it'll end up pulling audiences out - people wont be able to believe the world because it wont look real enough. Nothing like good old fashioned sets!
Enola

Looks like pure shit... Sin City was okay, but still overrated as hell. This looks like a stupid musicvideo with all style and no substance. Love the women in the movie, but hate everything else...
wetworks

I didn't care for the first trailer, but there's something about this one...maybe it's because I'm such a man-whore and would tear into each and every one of those delicious...er, uh, lost my train of thought, so yeah, I might actually check this out.
roeshen

The Song in the Trailer is: Hybrid - Choke
http://blog.myspace.com/shero_rauf Shero

I don't know about you guys but I will not put any expectation or thoughts about this movie ... it is Frank's first alone directing film and I am not sure how it will be .... I respect him for his comics and writings but as director I can't judge just from a trailer . Do not get me wrong he direct Sin City with Robert but this one is his own first movie that he directed alone ... I believe there is similar to Sin City and 300 in the point of view of making .... but again I am not expecting a lot from this one ... But for sure it is a movie that must be seen
K

Not sure yet!? Maybe he doesn't wanna give to much away, which is nice for a change. Have to wait and see.
Curtis

I have never seen so many guys complain about attractive women in a movie trailer before. Are all of you not into women? The style is crazy yes and the trailer is a little odd but saying a movie is going to suck off a trailer is blasphemy, especially one that doesn't even tell you whats going on. Calm down it's frank miller he knows what he is doing.
Andrew

I actually liked this trailer, and the movie looks good, but the trailer is simply too weird for the average moviegoing audience (though every guy will get turned on when they see Eva Mendes drop that towel). It's interesting, though, that it focuses on all of the female characters, which is something you rarely see.
Django

It's official: (and has been for well over a decade & a half) Frank Miller absolutely fetishizes his femme fatales. And that's not a bad thing, if you go all the way with it, cuz the girls can get into it, too. Sin City worked that way- puritanical comic geeks panned it, while the rest of us brought girls to it and they really, REALLY got into it. Last I checked, there are still a TON of hot girls out there who wish they were Scarlet Johanssen. Samuel L.? Yeah, he's definitely still got the cred to carry it & lay it down. My only complaint is that the music is WAY too "I'm a dude w/a guitar who wishes he was Trent Reznor" for this to be called an Adaptation of Will Eisner's Spirit. Eisner's work was all jazz & bebop. Recut this with some saucy Saxophone, and I'll give you FONKY.
Chris

Is this another green-screen outing? Kinda getting tired of seeing films using this method. They seem to lack a certain grounding in reality which spoils the whole movie for me - it's distracting.
Staatz

Why did they get Frank Miller for this? Will Eisner's The Spirit is much more light heated and humorous than what that trailer suggests (like 22 said)- Frank Miller is a republican and thus is limited to dark, mean-spirited humor. Edgar Wright might have been better for this.
Ian Kazimer

I'm...gonna doubt that political standing has anything to do with their moviemaking ability. That said, if anything, Sam Jackson--in my book--has entirely lost all types of credit. Mr. Jackson, if you're reading this: Please make one good movie instead of 35 mediocre-to-awful ones. Also, to Mr. Frank Miller: If you're going to pay homage to a mentor as influential as you state the omni-talented Mr. Eisner was, please take some consideration for the medium and story itself, rather than simply using your saved compositing files from two of your last movies. PS. When villains aren't shown in the comic, please don't show them to the public before the movie is anywhere near released. It just doesn't make sense. Love, America
ImaginaryVisionary

I think this movie looks cool. Really, Miller may be one of the few in Hollywood making visually compelling movies. He's still rehashing material instead of creating something totally original, but at least he's creating unique films to look at. With that being said, this may be the last time he can pull off a hit based on look alone. Eventually people will tire of the novelty. Samuel L. Jackson must really have a thing for super hero's because won't this be his third role in a "comic-esque" type film this year? (Jumper, Ironman/Hulk, Spirit, not to mention Unbreakable back when he was a little more badass)
Jorge Leiner

I loved the teaser, although it looked A LOT like another Sin City, but hey, I loved Sin City, so WTF... But, after watching this sort of a full trailer, mmm, i don't know what to think, it looks kinda messy. I always thought that composing a comic book and directing a fil would be a similar effort in terms of visual ideas, but now i'm not very sure. Anyway, I hope Frank Miller won't dissappoint us.
Django

A friend of mine used to manage Samuel L.'s 'account' at L.A.'s most prominent comic store. He's a big fan, and word getting out about that def. played a part in Marvel casting him as Nick Fury in their own Comics. I'll admit, I liked the last trailer a bit more, so far as it's look. This project is obviously a labor of love for Miller, as Eisner was a very dear friend & giant in the industry, whose creative output spanned some 5 decades +. I do wonder if the rest of the cast is basing their characters off Eisner's work, even though it's Miller's "look". He's really got such a talented (and attention-getting) cast. What I really would love to see is a film of Give Me Liberty, or Hard Boiled. THOSE are stories that could sell as films just on concept and relevance alone.
Adam Goldberg

Get Rosario Dawson for Give Me Liberty. I'm sure she could be convinced to play the only successful Black Female hero in comics history! (if she'd be cool w/ some nappier, bleached hair, she could really pull it off)
Baltazar Markus

THE SPIRIT will be the new SPEED RACER
David R

Dang it, got here too late. >.< I'm looking forward to this movie though, and can't wait to watch the new Trailer.
Traveler

I went and found the trailer somewhere else.. funky? Yes. Good? Not so much. The first trailer had me interested, now not so much. What WAS that?
cody

when i first saw the sin city trailer I had the exact same reaction, "What in the hell just happened" but in the end sin city was epically badass. The action looked like anything frank miller would write and the fine ass in that movie its bound to make millions. Hopefully frank miller wont have a fail on his hands cause everything hes done so far is siiiiiick