“The Spirit”
Lionsgate
At the Showcase and Quality 16

2 out of 5 Stars

Give Frank Miller credit for sticking to what he knows. The comic book artist-turned-filmmaker has taken on his first solo directorial effort after co-directing “Sin City,” and, as he did with that excellent film, he has pulled out every trick in the book to make “The Spirit” look like a living, breathing, 1940s comic. Problem is, most of his techniques — stylized black-and-white photography with brief glimpses of color and excessive green screen use — already feel like old hat in only their second appearance. Once the thrill of the visual effects quickly wears off, it becomes all too obvious that Miller still lacks the ability to tell a compelling story.

The relatively standard plot, featuring a former cop (Gabriel Macht, “The Good Shepherd”) who becomes immortal and swears to protect his city from its criminal underbelly, doesn’t develop nearly enough to become engaging. Bizarrely, Miller seems to have run his own script through a copy machine before handing it to his actors, who often recite the same lines of hokey dialogue three or four times in a row (“I can’t stand eggs!”). Samuel L. Jackson, as gun-toting wild man The Octopus, once again proves to be the best part of a mediocre movie. Somebody make sure he’s part of the cast for the upcoming “Sin City 2,” because if “The Spirit” is any indication, that film won’t have a chance of surviving on looks alone.