Failing to capture the spirit

If you've watched a movie recently you may have seen the trailer for Frank Miller's take on Will Eisner's "The Spirit." Anyone who hasn't read the original Spirit (or even the Darwyn Cooke remake) may come away with the impression that it's another Miller-esque misogynist bloodfest set in a dark city with hardboiled (almost stereotypical) characters saying pulp-y lines like "My city screams."

Miller completely misses the point and Io9's Graeme Mcmillan explains why. 

Ultimately, Miller's movie Spirit could, on its own terms, be wonderful. Despite the unpromising trailers and teases that we've seen, it may be the stylish, sexy, exciting action movie that it so clearly wants to be. That would be great. But there is nothing that I've seen, either in the pre-release material for the movie or in any of Miller's earlier work that shows that he has it in him to translate what was so special about the newspaper strip - the real The Spirit - onto the screen, or even that he has any real inclination to try.

Which is the sad part. Instead of trying -- like his "300" collaborator Zack Snyder -- to capture the feel of the series, Miller just uses the characters and transports them into his own cynical universe. 

Oh well, at least we still have "Watchmen" to look forward to.