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EXTRAS - SPAWN (1997) MOVIE REVIEW

SPAWN
Studio: New Line Cinema
Original Theatrical Release Date: August 1, 1997
Available On: DVD, Blu-ray, Digital, Streaming

Description: Born in darkness. Sworn to justice. After being murdered by corrupt colleagues in a covert government agency, Al Simmons makes a pact with the devil to be resurrected to see his beloved wife Wanda. In exchange for his return to Earth, Simmons agrees to lead Hell’s Army in the destruction of mankind.




Spawn Movie Review
Written by Matt Zimmer and James Harvey, Edited by James Harvey

Admittedly, going into Spawn, I wasn't sure what I was expecting. It is generally considered one of the worst superhero films of all time, but that can't be right. Considering the likes of Batman & Robin, and even other lesser installments in the comic book genre from throughout the years, it just can't be. And well, it was. But it also wasn't. While it remains a real trendsetter in the early days of the comic book movie genre, Spawn being released in 1997 and helping to set the stage for the current explosion of comic movies.

Spawn begins with death. After being killed by his boss Jason Wynn, Al Simmons goes to hell and cuts a deal with the Devil to see his wife once more. But, what he doesn't realize is this deal has strings attached. When he returns to Earth, he finds himself involved in plot to destroy the world. Spawn was directed by Mark A.Z. Dippé, stars Michael Jai White, D.B. Sweeney, Theresa Randle, Martin Sheen, John Leguizamo, Mindy Clarke, and was released by New Line Cinema.

Twenty-five years later and Spawn definitely lives up, in the most part, to its reputation. In fairness to how bad the film is, and it is atrocious, one good thing about its badness is that none of it was upsetting. This movie clearly has its fans, and you can see why - especially at the time - but this movie hasn't aged well since its release. It's just kinda there, lifeless and none of it seems to matter. And while I understand why the movie was a big deal at the time, it's not one that has any lasting appeal. But what's really shocking about it is how utterly pedestrian and rushed this whole thing is, and how there's clearly a lot more work that needed to be done before it was released. It's amateurish and looks unfinished.

First of all, I was shocked Industrial Lights And Magic did the effects. Maybe I shouldn't be, but these effects are absolute dreck. They wouldn't pass muster on SyFy Channel ten years ago. It's easy to see how these would be considered huge at the time, but there's been definite progress. Still, it was made during computer visual effects' infancy, and perhaps its ambition outstripped the talent involved. Or, more importantly, it was too ambitous for the imposed deadlines. There's plenty of coverage on the movie's troubled production. Nearly every visual effect in the movie is CG, and it looks absolutely terrible and beyond dated.

What's not terrible is its lead, Michael Jai White. It's not the strongest showing for White but it's still pretty good given the film's production troubles and the ultimate final product. It's also was very early in his career, and this movie was being positioned as his big break at the time. Unfortunately the film's quality tanked that. Spawn also makes the weird choice to have the actor playing one of the first black onscreen superheroes second billed to John Leguizamo, who is probably at his career low point here as the Clown. Yeah, that includes Super Mario Bros. He's not bad here, and he's giving it his all, but it's definitely not his best work by far and doesn't connect like it should. He should be scary here, but he's just a goofball.

It doesn't help that the film's story doesn't make much sense, but that could also be the comic's doing. The comic is a compicated, messy affair that, somehow, works for the most part. But trying to simplify it for the movie here was an impossible task and doesn't work. There is no mystery to be had becuase there's no story. It's just random bad crap happening under the guise of hellish apocalyptic battles becuase there's no real plot holding it together. There's no rhyme or reason to the Clown's plans or actions, stuff just happens becuase it's supposed to. His foolish and unnecessarily cruel behavior is one of the biggest obstacles to his goals, so while the movie is playing it like Leguizamo is being a bastard, in reality, he's being an idiot. And since he's the Big Bad, that's annoying.

The narration of the film, and jump cuts with the flashbacks, and the CG Hell effects actually made the movie hard to follow. I sort of got what was going on thanks to my knowledge of the cartoons and comics, but this must have been incomprehensible to people going into this fresh. There's a lot of story needed to make it work, but it's not here and, as a result, nothing makes sense. Actually, the movie was probably so confusing to begin with that it seems likely to me the film immediately starting off with insane sounding exposition was probably a studio note.

At least Todd McFarlane's Spawn handled the characters better than this movie but the comparison isn't one to one. The cartoon was a slow burn, slowly setting the stage in the show's first two seasons before things started to pick up in season three. Then the show ... ended. I will give the movie credit for having a beginning, middle, and end. But really, is that really something that deserves praise? Spawn hits the most basic of story beats but it's still a directionless mess.

Spawn was a moderate success, with a $19.7 million opening weekend, a $54.8m domestic total and a $87.8m worldwide cume on a $40m budget. At the time, of course, movies also enjoyed a healthy post-theatrical life, and Spawn was no exception, being one of the year's biggest home video releases. Whatever you say about the first Spawn movie, it was a hit, regardless of the perceived quality.

There is more to talk about here with Spawn but it's nothing worth noting, really. Any other thoughts or comments eventually lead to the same thing: Spawn just isn't a good movie, and that hasn't changed 25 years later. It's commendable for what it wants to do, but the movie falls far, far short of its lofty ambitions. There are small things here and there that work - like a good action beat of special effect, even the odd joke - but it pales vastly in comparison to how basically nothing else about the movie really works. If you're curious, give it a watch, but even that is hard to recommend. Spawn just happens, and then it ends. And maybe that's for the best.


Review written in 2022.


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