Comic Book Movie Reviews: Spawn
79Spawn Movie
Spawn Movie Review
Spawn is a popular comic book creation by Todd McFarlane and way back in 1997 a film was released simply called Spawn based on the comic book and I remember going to the cinema to watch it and thinking it was ace, but as usual with some films once the magic of the special effects wear off your left with a shell of a film that doesn't really stand up to the brilliant ideas of the comic book and there are some liberties taken with the movie version.
The basic story is of Government operative Al Simmons who whilst on a mission is double crossed by his government boss Jason Wynn and killed and so with him being a hired assassin he is instantly sent to hell for his troubles, he is then presented with a deal with the devil to lead his army against the forces of good and so he agrees and he is then placed back on earth as the Spawn which is in fact a hellspawn with limited power.
He later finds out that his wife Wanda has married his best friend and had a child that he could give her...gutted! and so the rest of the film is spent trying to avenge his murder by going after his old government boss Wynn, but along the way another agent of hell the Violator wants the Spawn to fail miserably as he believes that only hells own should lead the evil against the good.
The film falls down by the lead actors wooden acting and the story which seems flat, although it gave a decent introduction to the world of Spawn, it lacked some of the atmosphere of the comic book and it seemed like it was all about the special effects and nothing else, some of the effects were great as they were done by Industrial Light and Magic, but some of the effects seemed almost arcade game like towards the end and the Devil himself looked rather stiff, not how I imagined it.
However the film made a ton of money as the fans wanted to see it and there was a couple of versions of the film floating around on video and dvd at the time, one was a directors cut which supposedly had new scenes in it and it did but only a couple of minutes because you hardly noticed.
So in conclusion the film if your a fan of the Spawn comic book then it should breeze through and be enjoyable for you, of course it's been out for a few years now, but I would recommend the animated Spawn series as it's more adult and more how it should be.
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Yeah this film was a disappointment really, but it did it's job of getting itself out there I suppose to hopefully fund another movie, when ever that'll be
I much prefer the comic because I still buy it, although Whilce Portacios art is rather flat I still buy the comic....Greg Capullo was the best artist on Spawn after Todd so I wish he'd do more.....Oh well...
yeah, i agree with you. the spawn movie was essentially a piece of crap, as it failed to live up to the comic book. i think the problem was that todd wanted his brand to be as openly received as other comic book films like superman and batman, that he allowed the movie to stray too far away from what it originally was supposed to be.
Then again, I don't know if the catholic church would've allowed for a spawn movie to exist that was true to the comic, as they almost got films like "Passion of the christ" AND "the last temptation of Christ" banned from theaters. And those were only two films going over different aspects of jesus' life. Therefore, can you imagine them even tolerating a live action film like "Spawn" that calls the very basis of christianity into question? If you can, then I think we can both understand why Todd chose to go that route a while back. Personally, I'm with you, as i would've loved for Todd and those film makes to show some cajones and just make a faithful adaptation. However, it's not my money though, so it's hard to say.
i know todd said he's been working on a reboot script for a while, where it's told from the perspective of the detectives of Sam and Twitch. While giving Spawn zero dialogue and making him more like a phantom, and promising a dark tone along the lines of "the departed." Which might work, as they could use that approach to make a dark Spawn film while toning down the religious aspect of it. Not saying they couldn't emphasize on the religious aspect of the series, but I doubt seriously the catholic church would allow it to be released if they did.....
ruffridyer Level 4 Commenter 10 months ago
I enjoyed the movie but like my son pointed out it was rated pg-13. An rated R version would have been better.
I think steven overestamates the influence of the Catholic Church on hollywood, Maybe some personal issues there? Anyway a good hub.