Spawn

* (1 out of 5) Spawn

Directed by : Mark A.Z. Dippé, 1997

Cult comic book comes to the screen looking like a bad computer game. Lacklustre story, illogically put together, some really awful editing and dialogue and finally the Tron-looking computer generated special effects (as in Tron from 1982, yes).

Joe Leguizamo is wickedly funny as spooky Stephen Kingish clown and the only highlight.

I remember seeing this film as a kid, and i remember it being pretty bad-ass. Joining IMDb, and seeing it at a 4.9, I was astonished. But having been over twelve years, I decided to go out and buy the Director's cut. Just to be blunt, it's nowhere near worthy of the rating it's at. But, there is quite a bit of wasted potentiality. I'll start off with the good, which really there is a lot of if you think about it. First off, if you're really into action, look no further because this film sports a nice amount of it. And the basic premise is pretty interesting, but even the director's cut clocks in at under an hour and forty minutes , so it fails to dive any deeper than it certainly could've. The cinematography is by Guillermo Navarro, who many of you probably know from his work with director Guillermo del Toro ( "Blade 2", the "Hellboy" series, "Pan's Labyrinth", etc.), and he does a bang up job. With the right direction this could have been a masterpiece by all means. Mark A.Z. Dippé knew and carried out the bare minimum of film making, and if you look into it is busy now-a-days with animated Garfield productions. What a down grade, huh? About 90% of the visuals are pretty damn good actually, and the acting as it is is all right. For these things alone, I enjoyed this movie, where as I despised "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" for its predictable generic storyline and overly done flashy effects. Michael Jai White was far from terrible and John Leguizamo was pretty terrific if not a bit cartoony at times.

The bad points really hit this film hard. The pacing, attuned to its short run time, zooms by way too quickly with annoying video game like transitions and a score that didn't fit the film too well. Every time I was expecting more to be developed, I was let down. "Oh, this is a cool plot line-wait, what, we're moving on already? oh..okay..". And lastly, amongst 90% of the great CGI and make-up, the battle in hell is painstakingly terrible. They should've gone with an elaborate set and CGI here and there, but it becomes hopeless so you have to sit threw what you would call a lackluster climax.

But for what it is, I highly recommended this movie for its dark humor and awesome action.

This is a tough movie to vote. I personally liked it more than not, but only because I have always been fascinated with comic book super heroes, but that's it, Other than that, and some occasionally very well done special effects, this movie pretty much sucked. The parts where Hell or whatever that ridiculous place is supposed to be are done so poorly I won't even bother loosing words about it. The acting isn't as bad as some claim (well, what exactly can you expect from Martin Sheen anyway)and Theresa Randle is gorgeous as ever. The atmosphere of the movie is very, very dark and morbid, so I would recommend this movie to comic-hero fans ONLY!

You can easily tell that comic book based movies were not a popular demand back in the '90s. Spawn is a result of a sloppy adaptation from a source material which is really difficult to rightfully adapt, special effects that were expensive and got dated after two years and a production company that didn't seem to have taken the making of this movie seriously. So logically it feels like a really poor effort, yet it has its moments.

Great casting choice in Michael Jai White, he proved himself worthy of portraying a broken man looking for revenge and a chance to see his family again. Action sequences are actually quite tolerable, and dark humour mostly provided by John Leguizamo's character (in a funny/disturbing performance) was done to a right amount, enough to add a bit of edge to the story and not much to harm the film, a trend you see nowadays in comic book films, too much unnecessary humour.

The special effects are cringe-worthy at best, which don't really appeal visually other than the cape and Spawn's overall look. So, there aren't many reasons to watch this film, well perhaps the hope that a new Spawn adaptation won't be as bad as this one. Even though I know it's bad, I still got a kick out of it, hence my 6 rating.

Oh, if you expect to see a good performance from Martin Sheen, you can forget about it, he's atrocious in this. All I want to do is forget he was in this movie.

There are moments in Spawn that stand out with exceptional creativity, but what truly stands out about the movie is just how much of a mess it is.

The screenplay is a wreck, the acting is stiff and unconvincing, and the whole thing seems to fly by so fast, that we don't get a chance to experience much other than a look at some nifty visuals. In fairness, I suppose it is easy enough to argue that Spawn delivers its share of action sequences for a ninety minute movie, but perhaps it needs to back down a bit. It needs more story. In the end, Spawn feels like nothing more or less than an exercise in CGI and make-up effects.

It is pretty difficult to get involved with the story, in part because it makes no sense, but mostly because we simply do not care. The character of Al Simmons is about as cheap and plastic as the armour he suits up in during the second half of the feature. Quite frankly I don't find him all that likable. He is cold and nasty, even as a superhero. I really hate it when the good guys talk like the bad guys; when they cackle or make snarly remarks, like Dr. Westlake in the Darkman series.

Some of the special effects work, some don't. Our hero has a blood red cape which can expand to the size of Texas (don't ask me how). I liked that effect. The thing sort of has a computer generated life of its own, and its elegance clashes with the plastic of Spawn's armour. the primary villain is a clown from hell, who can turn into a ten foot armour plated beast which looks a bit like a cousin of the Queen from Aliens. That is another good effect. The climax takes us deep into the fiery pit of hell, which unfortunately does NOT so convincing. My screen saver is a more intimidating computer generated image. I was reminded a bit of the Brinstar level from Super Smash Brothers.

Like so many films do, Spawn ends on a note that just cries out for a sequel. Needless to say, there isn't one and there never will be. Spawn is entertaining in parts, but definitely not as a whole.