Despite a strong premise, The Atomic Spawn never escapes the shadow of its unconvincing acting and poor visuals.
The story explores the premise of nuclear experimentation as its gateway into science fiction. The Atomic Spawn relies more on fiction than science with very little, if any, plot line explained. The twist at the end, whilst somewhat predictable, offered partial redemption. However, instead of hooking me with more questions, the storyline's unexplored potential ultimately left me feeling underwhelmed and disappointed.
Nguyen (Ngo) delivers an average lead acting delivery. However, disjointed character development and a somewhat antediluvian directorial style leads to a wooden performance. The similarly average costume and set design are let down by the inexcusably conspicuous lighting and VFX errors. These failures are most obvious with the egg and its subsequent spawn; glitchy and incoherent movements ruin immersion in the film's unfulfilled promise.
