Miller's solo directorial debut has no Spirit

We've all seen the fantastic trailers for The Spirit movie and immediate comparisons to Frank Miller's own Sin City come up. The pulp feel. The classic vernacular. The colorful characters. I guess the biggest difference between the two is that Sin City was actually good. The Spirit, although visually breathtaking, has nothing else to offer. The story is empty. The acting is flat. But, man, is it pretty! And for that reason many people will hear how extremely bad this movie is and they still won't be able to stay away. Don't say you weren't warned. I guess the best part about all the negative reviews is that now people have a better chance of walking into the theater expecting Batman and Robin and come out feeling like they saw The Dark Knight (well, maybe Batman Returns). Unfortunately, I did not have those expectations. I couldn't wait to see this film. I couldn't understand why it was going to be in black and white when Will Eisner's classic stories consisted of vibrant hues and colorful suits, but I thought, "Frank Miller knows what he's doing. Look at Sin City. Even if it ends up more like another entry in that series, I'm cool with that." Well, it turns out that it was Robert Rodriguez who knew what he was doing with Sin City. Don't get me wrong, Miller can paint quite a pretty picture and tell a heck of a story, but when it comes to getting the most from his actors...did I already mention that he paints a pretty picture? The only real kudos for this film would have to go to cinematographer Bill Pope for delivering a film that is actually more enjoyable with the volume off. Miller originally refused to direct this picture when he was approached at his good friend Will Eisner's funeral. Even when accepted he had no desire to make this film, he just didn't want anyone else to because he didn't want anyone screwing it up. I guess he wanted to save that embarrassment all for himself.