Customer Reviews

Spawn [VHS]

5 star:		(37)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(26)
2 star:		(31)
1 star:		(44)

 

 

Films of this sort require you to take an enormous amount of disbelief, but even when knowing this, it's still an ugly and pretty bad movie. When I first saw the trailer for "Spawn," my mouth dropped in sheer joy. It was released in the summer of '97, which is when I had just begun reading the Spawn comic books, and I really couldn't wait to see it. Roger Ebert gave it three and a half stars, and I expected some sort of revisit to Batman's glory days...

But, oh, man. What a disappointment. For the first five minutes of the film, I was very much hooked. It opens with a merciless assasination, and goes headfirst into probably the best opening credits sequence I've ever seen in my life. But after that, it goes totally downhill. The special effects are great, but the script is cartoonish, and the acting is remarkably bad. Michael Jai White (who played the title role in HBO's Tyson) is okay as Spawn, but his overracting and bad delivery of emotion get to be rather tiresome. John Leguizamo is Clown, the Devil's cronie, a character so campy and corny, it made me want to laugh out loud. And then there's Martin Sheen, who plays an unbelievably evil mortal bent on world domination (original, huh?). His performance is nothing spectacular, either.

But despite bad acting, I think most of the fault should fall on director Mark Dippe. New Line should have hired someone else for this movie, like Tim Burton or Alex Proyas, because aside from doing special effects, this guy doesn't know what the hell he's doing. Some of the camera angles just make you scratch your head and wonder, "Why?"

I give "Spawn" two stars for the special effects and the opening credits sequence. Pretty sad, huh? Yeah, well, if you're about to see it for the first time, you'll agree with me.

P.S. -- Spawn's cape was awesome.

in 1997, me and my mom saw this in the theaters and we both liked it. i've always been fascinated with both TV Show and Comic Books ( a Spawn Fanatic). the story deals with Al Simmonds ( Michael Jai White) who gets murdered by his scum bag boss " Jason Wynn" ( Martin Sheen) and is sent to hell, makes a deal with the evil lord of Darkness " Malbolgia" and becomes a Shapeshifting avenger named " Spawn" so that he can see his wife again. The DVD Director's cut is the only one worth watching instead of the lousy PG-13 Version that they had dumbed down, i know that The Clown ( John Leguizomo) can be annoying but you can just forgive that and just see this movie with a different if interesting twist to the superhero stuff and some spectacular visual effects.

Todd McFarlane began the 'Spawn' comic series in 1992. The series went on to set records for comic sales. My own personal knowledge of 'Spawn' comes from the large number of imaginative action figures that appear on many toy and comic store shelves. I have bought and set up several, and I decided to see the film to get some insight into the story behind the figures.

The film starts like a buzz saw. You are dumped right into the life of secret agent/assassin Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) as he destroys a planeload of people, realizes what he had done, and tries to leave the agency for whom he worked. Needless to say, his evil boss Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen) has no intention of letting him go. Wynn tricks Simmons into one 'last' assignment. It's a setup, and Simmons is toasted for real.

Suddenly (everything is sudden in this film) it is five years later. Simmons pops back into existence, looking like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, with a severe memory shortage. A really gross clown (John Leguizamo) keeps trying to be his buddy, his best friend has married his girlfriend, and the only thing that remembers him is his dog - Spaz (I don't know who played the dog). This is a situation that can only get worse, and sure enough, that's what it does.

The basic plot turns on Simmons' (now called Spawn) moral progress. Hell has been tempting souls all over the world in order to create an army of badness. Now they want Spawn to be the general of that army and lead the last apocalyptic attack on heaven. In order to qualify, that have to play on Spawn's anger and thirst for vengeance until he does something so bad that he loses all his humanity. Of course, this involves killing most of the people in the world. Cogliostro (Nicol Williamson) plays the good guy, trying to help Spawn keep his humanity.

My immediate problem with 'Spawn' was that it was not 'Blade.' It took me the first 15 minutes of the film to get over that. I think this was really a matter of seeing 'Blade' just before viewing 'Spawn.' Once I was able to get into the movie a bit, I found that my original reaction was overkill. Even so, most of the script is people morphing into things that kill and then smashing other people into smithereens. Yes, there is a plot, but its primary purpose is to provide an excuse for a steady procession of outrageous (but bloodless) violence. Exactly how it managed to hold on to a PG-13 rating is beyond me. 'Blade' had an element of style that is simply lacking in 'Spawn.'

The cast consists of many skilled and experienced players (Martin Sheen's film credits are probably longer than the script). Unfortunately, the pace is so intense that the only character you get to know well is that godforsaken clown, and you will really wish that you hadn't. Most of the other characters are limited to parts that are heavily typecast. Despite this, 'Spawn' is almost a very good film. Many of the special effects are great, and there certainly isn't anything wrong with a lot of fast-paced action. However, the story never completely gripped me, and the film work is a bit too claustrophobic. Still, it's worth seeing if you get a chance.

As far as comic heroes made into movies go, Spawn is better than some transitions. Good acting, screenplay, special effects, and music make it above average. I have seen many movies converted from comics and Spawn was passed over by many. The clown and heavy metal music in some places may be a little abrasive to some, but the overall premise and delivery is not flawed. It may not be the caliber of Spiderman, but it certainly is a far cry from being a B movie. This is one definitely for fans of movies like "Hellboy" and "The League of Extraordinary Gentleman". I like Superman, Batman, and Spiderman, but it is a refreshing change to see something that is not your mainstream comic book hero from time to time.

Spawn is based on a human man who works as a soldier that assassinates people for the government. When he realizes they are being used and wants to leave they decide his usefulness is ended. Meanwhile Satan is in the background waiting for this all to happen and when he is killed by his boss, he of course goes to hell and is made into a super powered spawn of the devil, hence Spawn. Spawn wants revenge on his boss and will do anything to get back to his wife and little girl. A pact with the devil gets him his wish, but not the way he thought. When he finds out his best friend married his wife after his death, he adds him to his list to kill. While all this is going on he meets a soldier of God and a demon who acts like a clown. The way he handles all this may be somewhat predictable, but still fun to watch.

Initially, back when Spawn came out in theatres,i had never heard of it,let alone read a single comic book of the source material.But nevertheless, i was excited to see a comic book-based film other than Batman hit the screens.Sadly, i did not go to see it when it came out in august of 1997,but could not wait to see it still.When I finally did a couple months later on VHS, I was not dissapointed. However to this day, I think Spawn could have benefited from an R rating and more emphasis could have been placed on the action sequences(which were exciting but there should have been more).I would have thought that a sequel would come out in the years after but didn't.A sharp contrary when compared to Blade,which came out exactly 1 year after Spawn,and became a trilogy in no time at all.Even the actors and the acting(most importantly)held up-meaning it may have been a bit cartoonish, but never dumb and/or stupid.Lastly,it felt good to see for the first time an African-American superhero on the screen.P.S. the effects were great and the soundtrack(a mix of rock and electronica laced tracks)is a bonus if you liked the movie.

Al Simmons, is a military soldier/assassin, who has been betrayed by a covert government agency head named Jason Wynn. Wynn orders his top assassin, Jessica Priest, to assassinate him. After Simmons dies, he is immediately transported to Hell, where Malebolgia, a demonic ruler of the various realms, offers him a Faustian deal. If Simmons becomes his eternal servant and leader of Hell's army in Armageddon, he will be able to return to Earth to see his beloved fiancee, Wanda Blake. And Simmons accepts the offer and is transformed into a Hellspawn, which is a servant of Malebolgia in a necroplasm suit that is not only a living, breathing creature, but is also his only protection in the world. Simmons, soon to be dubbed "Spawn" by Malebolgia's crony, The Violator, returns to Earth and attempts to reunite with Wanda, not knowing that five years have passed. He also seeks revenge on his former boss and killer, Jason Wynn, who has made a deal with The Violator to develop a lethal virus to take over the world, where Wynn is promised to be king. Very enjoyable to watch, and a great visual ride.

Spawn Is the best Dark Superhero movie i ever saw. The Special effects are so Hellish awesome. The Clown was one of my favorite characters, because he was so funny. Who would thought that the villian would be the comic Releaf. This Movie Rocks.


If You Liked this movie check out The Animated Spawn Movies & Check out the Novel & Listen To The Soundtrack

This is movie is based on my favorite comic "hero" and it ends up sucking. I'm not even going to say anything except that

1.They should have let Todd McFarlane write and direct this
2.Hollywood should get shot for making this film
3.PG-13? Are you kidding me...this ain't no kiddy comic man!

This film was just terrible but I must say the CGI is terrific in this film but that's it....Unlike the comics or animated series you won't find..
Profanity
Graphic Violence
Disturbing imagry and this list go's on.

Even in this "Directors Cut" there are only two major difference in this and the PG-13 one which is...Al says a naughty word!!! Oh my gosh! And the other one is him shooting that girl in the head...

This movie flat out sucks...

2.1 out of 5 stars....

If you really wanna watch Spawn it's all hell and out of controll way watch the Animated Series from HBO.

Thats All I gotta say...

Lates

Spawn is my favorite super hero of all time. This movie is not the comic book. All they did was take the title, the concept, the characters and made a super hero disaster. The comic book starts off him already established and trying to cope with his existence. This movie is nothing but plain, boring ... about this assassin coming back from the dead, already knowing his mission and planning to do it. In the comic book, Spawn had to find his way into discovering his past and discovering his mission on Earth. It would be great if they had that and they showed his journey into discovery and at the end, going after Jason Wynn. The Clown in the movie (took) the whole thing. He is the reason why I give this a *** stars. But still, it's a disappointed.

Besides the story and the adapting from the comic book that disappionted me was the cast. Who the hell is this Michael Jai White guy. No body knows who he is and he ... . He looks like a black pretty-boy. Spawn in the comic book was a rough and tough assassin. Michael "whatever" Jai White is not tough. Wesley Snipes would've been a great pick for the role of Al Simmons and he definately has the attitude and physique for the character. What also disappointed me was this Wanda girl. Whoever played Wanda, Al's former wife, is ugly, a terrible actress and is a terrible pick. Halle Berry would've been a great pick for Wanda or Vanessa Williams.

And what's up with this PG-13 ... . People, where's the R-rating!?! The cartoon is the best Spawn I've ever seen but this PG-13 is terrible. The movie should've followed the cartoon's footsteps: bad language (this is a guy from hell, I'd be cursing my way out of town if I just died and resurrected from hell), violence (they should've shown his anger against Wynn with violence against evil), and nudity (if this movie involves hell, we need rated R and since we got Wanda in the picture, we got to show something nice).

I just hope that in the near future, in a couple of years, Hollywood will decide to make another movie of "Spawn" and strip this piece of ... off the shelves of every video store. If you just want to see a movie with good special effects and funny jokes, go RENT this movie. But if you want to see a good super hero movie, go see Spider-Man or Blade (Blade 2 is better) or something because this is a disgrace to the comic book.

I feel so bad for Todd McFarlane.

Spectacular special effects, a spooky prduction design, and superb action sequences can't overcome a vague and confusing plot. Although watchable, you'll probably hate yourself the next day.