Spawn

Starring: Michael Jai White, John Leguizamo, Martin Sheen, Theresa Randle, Nicol Williamson, D.B. Sweeney, Melinda Clarke, Miko Hughes, Michael Papajohn, Frank Welker (voice)
Directed by: Mark A.Z. Dippe
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action, Drama, Horror
1997

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: An elite mercenary (Michael Jai White) is killed by his partners and goes to Hell. There, he reluctantly makes a deal with the Devil to lead the armies of Hell, giving him a chance to return to Earth and seek vengeance.

Review:

Tim: I first saw Spawn sometime early after it's initial release. I was maybe 16 or 17. I really disliked the movie then. I watched it again at 38 and felt the same. Spawn is a bad movie. Most comic book films in the mid-to-late 1990s were tough, but this is an especially bad movie. I still don't know much about Spawn, so this makes a disappointing introduction to the character.

When I think about why this is such a bad movie, obviously the script is a big culprit. Not much effort was put into "comic book" movies back in the 1990s. But, even more than that, you have to point the finger at Mark A.Z. Dippe. I don't know Dippe because he's obviously not much of a director. Outside of a music video, this was his first foray into directing. It's a problematic example of the times, to turn over a potential franchise to an inexperienced visual effects specialist. Dippe had no business directing this movie, no concept of how to craft a good film. That shows up in every single frame of the film. The pacing is awful and it almost makes you feel sick, how frantically the movie moves from scene to scene. There's absolutely no subtlety, no depth, it's just all surface and style (a bad style, at that). The movie is awful because Dippe had no idea of what he was doing. I was able to recognize that as a teenager and I recognize now it now, having seen thousands of movies.

I really don't know much about Todd MacFarlane's creation, but I can see why there would be appeal beyond this bad movie. Spawn is apparently a resurrected general of Hell who fights evil. That's really cool. I like the premise here and it's frustrating that this movie doesn't capitalize on any of that.

I wasn't a big fan of Michael Jai White's performance here. I suppose he's fine, but he didn't seem to have any depth to his performance. He plays him as flatly as a comic book character on a page. There wasn't enough humanity in his performance. It's bland and forgettable. I never cared about his character or his plight. It's a dull portrayal of a character that needed so much more. John Leguizamo, on the other hand, is the best part of the movie. His performance is over-the-top and manic in a way that the movie needed. His dialogue and actions are absurd and I often cringed at the buffoonish words he had to utter. At least Leguizamo realized he needed to bring something to the role. While White seems to be going through the motions, Leguizamo's extreme performance was at least memorable. I felt really badly for Martin Sheen. I have no idea why he's here, but out of the 17 films of his I've seen, this is by far the worst one. He should have fired his agent after showing his face here. D.B. Sweeney was solid. He's a good supporting character and showed up well here. It was nice seeing Miko Hughes in a small role, although the script didn't do him any favors.

The visual effects are at least good. I suppose that's the one benefit of having a visual effects artist direct the movie. Spawn's cape looks really cool. The visual effects are dated in 2020, but they were stunning in 1997. The visuals are a definite benefit. Spawn's look is memorable.

As I said at the beginning, Spawn is a bad film. It's forgettable and poorly made. It did a major disservice to this character. It's telling that in this modern age of every comic book character getting a movie, as of December 2020, Spawn hasn't been rebooted. This film did major damage to his brand. Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 4



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