I’ve said 100 times how bad “The Spirit” looks and that I have little to no hope for it. The other day I mention to you guy that two friends of mine (both journalists) saw the film separately and both despised it… one went so far as to suggest it’s the worst film since Battlefield Earth. Yikes!!!
I’ve also been saying that just because Frank Miller is a great graphic novelist, and just because he sat on Robert Rodriguez’s lap and called himself a “co-director” for Sin City, doesn’t mean he’s qualified or ready to direct a multi-milion dollar hollywood film like “The Spirit”. This thing has smelt like a disaster, and now it looks even worse.
This is how pathetic and desperate the marketing campaign has become. I’ve JUST watched a new commercial for The Spirt while watching Monday Night Football (Go Bears). In the commercial the narrator says the following:
“Critics are wild about The Spirit”
Ummm… ok. Really? I haven’t read one single positive review about it yet. What critics? Well… the commercial then shows us quotes from these “critics” with the narrator reading them out loud. The quotes said:
“Brilliant” with no reference to who said it. Then the next quote flashes on the screen, narrator reading out loud:
“Jaw Dropping” with no reference to who said it. Then the next quote flashes on the screen, narrator reading out loud:
“One of the best films of the year” with no reference to who said it. Then the next quote flashes on the screen, narrator reading out loud:
“It’ll blow you away” THIS TIME it actually tells you who said it. Was it Roger Ebert? Nope. Was it CHUD or IESB or COmingSoon or even The Movie Blog? Nope. It was a quote from some guy named Scott Hoffman from an obscure little website call MoviePictureFilm.com. When I went to find this review, I discovered that ALL THE QUOTES IN THE COMMERCAIL WERE FROM THIS ONE CRITIC. ALL OF THEM!
Then the commercial gets even more pitiful. It started throwing up more quotes… in the exact same manner and in the exact same font as the critic quotes. The phrases that popped up were:
Heart Pounding
Eye Popping
Mind Blowing
Wild Fun
But get this… none of those were quotes from anyone. They were just words the commercial was throwing up there disguised to appear as if they were quotes from critics. PATHETIC!
I’m not naive enough to believe that this is the ONLY movie commercial that has pulled a stunt like this, but this really is despicable. Lionsgate (which is a studio I actually like most of the time) should be ashamed of themselves for this kind of bullshit.
I have never actively campaigned AGAINST a movie before, but this commercial has inspired me… so I am encouraging everyone to avoid seeing “The Spirit”. The film looks just awful and the studio has shown their hand that they know it and are using the cheapest and most pathetic marketing tricks to try to fool you into spending your money on it.
So join with me international friends. AVOID SEEING THE SPIRT! Don’t let your friends see The Spirit. Don’t let your family see The Spirit. Hell… go see Marley and Me instead, even if you know how the stupid thing ends… it’ll still be better than this!
