Spawn

New Line Cinema | Release Date: August 1, 1997

8.1	USER SCORE Universal acclaim based on 334 Ratings

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User Reviews

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SNLover44Mar 1, 2014

Ok I felt like I was playing a video game in the scene where he was in hell (The CGI'S were terrible to) I picked up my XBOX controller and started pressing random buttons (The old NG6 graphics were way better than this)
This movie is aOk I felt like I was playing a video game in the scene where he was in hell (The CGI'S were terrible to) I picked up my XBOX controller and started pressing random buttons (The old NG6 graphics were way better than this)
This movie is a great example about great comic books that were made into movies and sucked I watched this on TV and it goes above scary movie 2 "Spawn" is the worst movie I've ever seen.… Expand

2 of 12 users found this helpful210

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avatar16Jan 11, 2012

En voyant le comics-book, il y avait quelque chose d'intÃ©ressant Ã tirer de Spawn. Surtout si le projet aurait atterri dans les main d'un rÃ©alisateur talentueux tel que Tim Burton, qui aurait pu faireEn voyant le comics-book, il y avait quelque chose d'intÃ©ressant Ã tirer de Spawn. Surtout si le projet aurait atterri dans les main d'un rÃ©alisateur talentueux tel que Tim Burton, qui aurait pu faire ressortir toute l'ambiance et la puissance du comics ou tout simplement nous aurait livrÃ© un nouveau chef-d'oeuvre plastique comme il avait fait avec Batman. Mais au lieu de Ã§a, Spawn reste un trÃ¨s mauvais film en plus d'Ãªtre une trÃ¨s mauvaise adaptation. Et pour cause, le scÃ©nario est aussi indigeste que ses dialogues, c'est mal jouÃ©, les effets spÃ©ciaux sont immondes, la bande-son inadaptÃ©... Bref, tout est Ã jeter! Bon, je dois reconnaÃ®tre que les maquillages et les costumes relÃ¨vent lÃ©gÃ¨rement le niveau, mais cela n'est mÃªme pas suffisant pour faire un navet potable. Et franchement, on peut s'en rendre compte dÃ¨s la premiÃ¨re seconde du film, oÃ¹ une horrible voix off raconte les faits sur un montage digne du plus mal fichu des clips. En conclusion, Spawn ne ressemble Ã rien. Ou peut-Ãªtre que si : il ressemble plus Ã un trÃ¨s mauvais jeu vidÃ©o qui, lui-mÃªme, ne ressemble Ã rien. C'est pour vous dire...… Expand

0 of 5 users found this helpful05

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imthenoobJul 23, 2021

If it were so cheesy it was good, I could understand giving it a high rating but it simply isn't good. The movie looks awful, is painfully slow, and features some god-awful acting. This is everything that Spawn shouldn't be.

0 of 9 users found this helpful09

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SuperheroMoviesAug 10, 2013

The over exaggerated performances take away the overall mobility in character depth from the movie, leaving the broad span of violence and moderate special effects the task of bailing it out from near complete disaster.

0 of 9 users found this helpful09

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Cinemassacre94Mar 20, 2016

“Spawn” is a moodily malevolent, anything-goes revenge fantasy that relies more upon special visual and digitally animated effects for its intended appeal than any comics-derived sci-fier to date. Based on Todd McFarlane’s enormously“Spawn” is a moodily malevolent, anything-goes revenge fantasy that relies more upon special visual and digitally animated effects for its intended appeal than any comics-derived sci-fier to date. Based on Todd McFarlane’s enormously successful comic books, which have already spawned an HBO animated series and a thriving toy line, this narratively knuckleheaded, visually teeming film will appeal to the comics’ abundant fan base as well as to a fair portion of the young and mostly male sci-fi faithful who put “The Fifth Element” into the win column at the beginning of the summer. Traditionalists and older viewers will cringe, but that shouldn’t prevent New Line from reaping a quick reward on its reasonable $45 million production investment.

Pic brandishes any number of elements that, for teenagers, will mark it as edgy and cool: high-tech armor and artillery that put old-fashioned comic book heroes like Batman and Superman to shame; a physically dark, morally relative universe in which there are mostly just degrees of bad, and little good; irreverent and scatological humor; a heavy metal/alternative soundtrack; and, for once, a black superhero who, in this case, has literally gone to hell and back.

At the same time, however, “Spawn” piles on the sensory overload with no compensatory narrative or thematic balance; is numbingly repetitive in its action; features a uniquely unsavory and uninteresting cast of characters; substitutes adolescent vulgarity and obnoxiousness for genuine subversiveness and wit; and, perhaps worst of all, establishes no guidelines as to what its supernaturally gifted characters are capable of, seeming to make up their abilities as it goes along. For anyone not predisposed to locking in to its wavelength, the film is a forbidding, notably unlikable pop culture artifact.

Through a couple of explosive action sequences, first quarter-hour establishes the expertise and ultimate betrayal of U.S. government operative Al Simmons (Michael Jai White, star of HBO’s “Tyson”). On a secret mission to take out a North Korean biological weapons plant, Simmons is blown to smithereens by his boss Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen), who subsequently takes possession of the germ material to establish his bid for individual world domination.

In this world, however, people don’t necessarily die forever, and five years later, a horribly scarred Simmons is given the chance to return to Earth and see his beloved wife Wanda (Theresa Randle) and daughter Cyan (Sydni Beaudoin) if he will lead the Devil’s army to conquer the world. To this end, he is influenced on behalf of the forces of darkness by the repellent, scabarously sarcastic Clown from hell (John Leguizamo, unrecognizable in billowing fat and costumes), just as the venerable conjurer Cogliostro (Nicol Williamson) attempts to convince him to accept the assignment in order to eventually turn the tables on Satan.

All of this is presented in a dramatically muddled way in Alan McElroy’s screenplay, which has Simmons, now transformed into the armor-plated, physically superhuman Spawn, quickly get on the trail of the nefarious Wynn, who himself is in league with the malignant Clown. Threatened with Spawn’s vengeance, Wynn undergoes an operation that represents the supreme manifestation of tyrannical ego: He has a device implanted so that deadly bacteria will be released worldwide, killing everyone, should his heart stop beating.

As the story, such as it is, moves along, punctuated throughout by fancy wipes and transitions, one could be excused for increasingly losing one’s bearings, since the goal posts keep being moved by the filmmakers for their own convenience. Some wounds heals, others don’t; some characters seem to die, and while some do, others are able to bounce back; spatial and temporal relativity is played with willy-nilly, and nothing much ultimately seems to make any difference. Even the fate of the rightfully aggrieved, righteously motivated Simmons/Spawn gets lost in the unholy stew, to the point that any human engagement in his mission is an afterthought.

The filmmakers here, including first-time director Mark A.Z. Dippe, producer Clint Goldman and visual effects supervisor Steve (Spaz) Williams, have long experience in the f/x field, notably at Industrial Light & Magic, which did many of the effects here. Rarely has there been a film so loaded with effects at the expense of character or narrative coherence, which will be as a big a turn-on for some viewers as it is a turn-off for others.

The accomplishment and variety of visual happenings provides plenty of onscreen fireworks, but without any suspense, horror, wonder or dramatic surprise underlying them, they remain things to admire or just behold for their own sake.

Thesps have all been seen to better advantage elsewhere, to say the least.… Expand

0 of 6 users found this helpful06

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BigDadyPlatypusJul 5, 2017

John Leguizmo's performance is good. Some of the special effects are very good. However, most of the other aspects of this movie fall flat. The music seems last minute, Martin Sheen acted like it was a joke, the pace is spotty and theJohn Leguizmo's performance is good. Some of the special effects are very good. However, most of the other aspects of this movie fall flat. The music seems last minute, Martin Sheen acted like it was a joke, the pace is spotty and the directing is sloppy. Overall, not a movie to buy anytime soon. It is worth it to see it once just for the acting of Leguizmo. There was a lot of potential wasted in this film. Definitely a failed attempt at adapting a comic into a movie.… Expand

0 of 11 users found this helpful011

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