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Mask of Zero

Will Eisner and Frank Miller are kindred spirits (pardon the pun). Will Eisner wrote the book on comic books back in the 1940s, when he introduced his masked crimefighter "The Spirit" as a weekly newspaper insert. Frank Miller is the creator of some of the genre's contemporary classics. His "The Dark Knight Returns" graphic novel clearly influenced Christopher Nolan's wildly successful Batman films, and "300" and "Sin City" have both been adapted into hyper-stylized movies based on the Miller esthetic. When that latter film was made, Mr. Miller got co-director credit with Robert Rodriguez. Now the author branches out on his own to adapt Mr. Eisner's Spirit character for the big screen. Ironically, "The Spirit" - a stiff dud of a movie - might seem a bit more groundbreaking if "Sin City" had not already been made - and made so much better.

Clearly, Mr. Miller was paying attention to his directorial mentor. "The Spirit" cribs some of Mr. Rodriguez' techniques verbatim (the shocks of color, white-on-black blood, etc). Of course, one can't blame Mr. Miller for that. Mr. Rodriguez was, after all, riffing off Mr. Miller, who in turn has sited Mr. Eisner as inspiration. It's all a very incestuous cycle. And it has produced an offspring in "The Spirit" that is somewhat less than the sum of its parts.

The visuals in "The Spirit" are fun for a time - every frame is filmed with a "Gee, look what I can do" glee. But what's missing is the sense of character that made Mr. Miller's comics so groundbreaking (odd since the director also wrote the script). The Spirit character is mildly interesting, in his black suit, fedora and red tie. He's a cop that was gunned down in the line of duty and miraculously came back to life with the ability to heal (though it's unclear in the film where his powers begin and end). He's also quite the ladies man, and the film is populated with the type of ladies that Mr. Miller's comics love to sketch – the kind with tough-as-nails demeanors and hourglass figures. Eva Mendes stars as femme fatale Sand Saref (the script loves this name) who may or may not be working for the bad guys. Scarlett Johansson, on the other hand, is definitely on the wrong side of the law as moll Silken Floss. Where Ms. Mendes gets a kick out of shimmying through her role, Ms. Johansson doesn't get the joke, failing to live up to even the role of window dressing. On the side of the good guys: Sarah Paulson (from TV's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip") in underused as the doctor (Sarah Paulson) who continually helps stitch The Spirit back together. Only Stana Katic stands out as rookie officer Morgenstern. Her newsreel twang and plucky stride give her scenes the type of energy that might have kept the film alive.

Gabriel Macht, meanwhile, is an odd choice for the lead. He has the matinee idol looks, but this is his first lead role and he doesn't have the presence to hold the film – particularly with Samuel L. Jackson hamming it up as a villain called The Octopus. Without a strong director at the helm, Mr. Jackson simply turns up the histrionics to play this certifiable wacko. The laughter in the audience has a certain "at, not with" quality to it.

Mr. Miller clearly has a love for his source material. When he took on the project, he had one decree: no one gets to touch the film. No studios, no meddling hands. That's a fine idea in theory, but you know what they say about absolute power. It wouldn't have hurt for Mr. Miller to get a bit of advice on this one. Of course, he's in good company. Other, more seasoned directors have tried and failed to faithfully render comic books on screen (Warren Beatty's "Dick Tracy", Ang Lee's "The Hulk"). Film is simply a different medium, and perhaps a comic book shouldn't be directly translated any more than you should digitally scan a newspaper and pass it off as a website.

With a script that is literally nothing but banter, it might have worked better as a graphic novel. As a result, the film has no characters and the plot has virtually no stakes. When someone says "you just helped save the world", it gave me pause. I had to stop and think, "Really? The world?" Not exactly the reaction you're looking for in a superhero movie. Where Mr. Miller's novels are full of memorable noir thugs, "The Spirit" is peopled with caricatures. There's not one line of serious dialogue or character development. And without that, this "Spirit" lacks soul.