Spawn isn’t an original character but what made the comic great was his attitude. An African American super hero that was always super mad. It was a big deal in the mid 90’s that a best selling comic had a black main character. He uses big ass guns and kills bad guys without remorse. Spawn has a living breathing cape that he can control. Eat your heart out Batman! His arch nemesis is the Clown…another Bat influence. Clown is a wise ass too like the joker but he actually turns into a scary monster if you don’t like his jokes.
Then came the movie in 97. The trailer looked right and I was really excited to see Al Simmons’ jump to the big screen. Little did I know that it was going to be PG-13, which means the violence won’t be shown like in the comics. I watched the movie the first day it came out and I was speechless. I was speechless because the movie was a disappointment. The characters and core elements from the comic is there so what went wrong? I blame the first time and last time director of feature length movies, Mark A.Z. Dippe, a special effects guru who was given a $40 million bucks to make a Spawn movie. I can tell he really focused on the special effects because they’re pretty damn good, even to this day. The acting was terrible and the way Michael Jai White delivered his lines made me cringe. John Lequizamo as the Clown is actually decent and Martin Sheen as Jason Wynn was useless. The story is about the struggles of heaven and hell and what an angry person will do if he’s given a second chance to redeem himself. The action scenes are okay, too much cutting. I can tell the studio was having a hard time whether to make it R or PG-13. I’m guessing it was suppose to be rated R but since they saw how crappy it was, might as well target everyone and making it less violent. Even with this director’s cut, the more gory scenes still feel flat.
The movie is worth watching if you’re a Spawn fan because it’s cool seeing him live onscreen. But don’t say I didn’t warn you that you’ll be mad when the movie ends. So much potential was wasted. Wasted because they’ll never make another Spawn movie.
The blu-ray comes with a decent transfer. It’s clear but don’t expect it to be as clear as new movies, Spawn is 15 years old…damn I feel old again. This always happens when I review childhood flicks. Oh yeah, back to the blu-ray….the audio is wide and loud so no complaints there.
The extras are probably the best part of Spawn. There’s commentary by the filmmakers and they pretty much admit the movie was a letdown. This track is worth listening to and better than the actual movie. There’s also music videos and an extensive behind the scenes lasting more than an hour. Yeah, the behind the scenes is also better than the actual movie.
Overall, Spawn is a big failure. Creator Todd McFarlane was involved but somehow it still couldn’t capture the comic. The presentation is above average and the extras are more enjoyable than the movie. That’s why I’m giving it a higher grade than the actual movie deserves.
Overall grade: B-
Loading ...