Spawn

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.

This film is just like the comic that inspired it: Great visuals (I still really like McFarlane's superhero art style), but much like the majority of "Spawn" stories, it really doesn't go anywhere. The set looks good, the characters look good, the cape looks REALLY good, but the story? Other than telling the origin and the standard "must stop the bad guy" motive, it doesn't do as much as it should. And yes, I know it's a Hell-based movie, but the metal soundtrack just got distracting and annoying, instead of enhancing the story like it should have. John Williams or Danny Elfman it wasn't.

Need to see the film? It's a great visual ride. Just don't expect much more than that. It did make for some cool toys, though.

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.

* (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.

To be honest, this movie is a crap, but it has its charms. Spawn has a good make-up and following effects, and the music is quite good. It could be a guilty pleasure if you have time to waste.

6/10