Spawn – The Director’s Cut (New Line Platinum Series)Imagine a creature on the verge of creation. A creature who must come out of the dark and into the light to fight for justice and vengeance. From flesh to steel. From blood to blade. From man to spawn. Todd mcfarlanes comic book sensation comes to life in this live action film. Stunning special effects in this film. Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 11/13/2007 Starring: Michael Jai White Martin Sheen Run time: 90 minutes Rating: R Director: Mark A.z. DippeAfter being murdered for quitting his role as a ruthless yet moral government assassin, Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) is sent to Hell, where he makes a pact with the demon Malebolgia–if Simmons is allowed see his lover, Wanda, again, he will agree to lead the demon’s armies to storm the gates of Heaven. Transformed into a superhuman entity with shape-shifting powers and quick regeneration capabilities, Simmons (soon to be dubbed “Spawn” by Malebolgia’s crony, The Violator) returns to Earth and attempts to reunite with Wanda, not knowing that five years have passed. He also seeks revenge on his former boss and killer, Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen), who has made a deal with The Violator to develop a lethal virus to take over the world, where Wynn is promised to be king. Spawn wages an inner battle between good and evil as he tries to come to terms with selling his soul and what it could mean for humankind. Despite excellent effects and great potential, Spawn seems to come up short. While White certainly displays verve in his characterization of the twisted hero, he cannot overcome some forced dialogue. On the flip side, the usually engaging John Leguizamo portrays the sinister Violator–an evil monster masquerading as a rotund, weird-looking clown–as an irritating lackey who spews overbearing sarcasm and incessantly banal one-liners. Admitted, many of Spawn‘s action sequences are fun, and the transitions effectively brisk, but more could have been done to explore how Simmons grapples with his humanity in these daunting circumstances. But if you want sizzling action sequences and digital effects, this film should keep you happy. –Bryan Reesman
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(out of 152 reviews)
Review by C. A. Luster for Spawn – The Director’s Cut (New Line Platinum Series)
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As far as comic heroes made into movies go, Spawn is better than some transitions. Good acting, screenplay, special effects, and music make it above average. I have seen many movies converted from comics and Spawn was passed over by many. The clown and heavy metal music in some places may be a little abrasive to some, but the overall premise and delivery is not flawed. It may not be the caliber of Spiderman, but it certainly is a far cry from being a B movie. This is one definitely for fans of movies like “Hellboy” and “The League of Extraordinary Gentleman”. I like Superman, Batman, and Spiderman, but it is a refreshing change to see something that is not your mainstream comic book hero from time to time.
Spawn is based on a human man who works as a soldier that assassinates people for the government. When he realizes they are being used and wants to leave they decide his usefulness is ended. Meanwhile Satan is in the background waiting for this all to happen and when he is killed by his boss, he of course goes to hell and is made into a super powered spawn of the devil, hence Spawn. Spawn wants revenge on his boss and will do anything to get back to his wife and little girl. A pact with the devil gets him his wish, but not the way he thought. When he finds out his best friend married his wife after his death, he adds him to his list to kill. While all this is going on he meets a soldier of God and a demon who acts like a clown. The way he handles all this may be somewhat predictable, but still fun to watch.
Review by for Spawn – The Director’s Cut (New Line Platinum Series)
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Oh dear. Spawn certainly falls short of everything that made the comic such a big hit. The action sequences are good, yes, but who cares? It’s all show and no substance. More could have been done to: show the effect Spawn has on those around him; show his inner conflict, the ‘whatever he does is bad’ theme present in the comics; make Cogliostro less an interfering Yoda-figure and more of a mentor, the only one who gives a rat’s ass about Spawn; make Malebolgia more convincing, and fix the Hell scenes; cut out the random elements which spoil it, such as the Clown’s face on the spade, the way the Violator turns into a bookshelf and back again, the way Spawn’s cape never seems to know whether it’s coming or going.
It was a good idea, the opening sequence is fantastic. The hell vortex? Then the example of Simmons in action? Excellent. You know he’s a good guy straight away. But a crap script, horrendous miscasting of Leguizamo as Clown, and a dumbing down of the major themes turned this potential blockbuster into a B-movie nightmare.
Review by Sci-fi Geek for Spawn – The Director’s Cut (New Line Platinum Series)
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in 1997, me and my mom saw this in the theaters and we both liked it. i’ve always been fascinated with both TV Show and Comic Books ( a Spawn Fanatic). the story deals with Al Simmonds ( Michael Jai White) who gets murdered by his scum bag boss ” Jason Wynn” ( Martin Sheen) and is sent to hell, makes a deal with the evil lord of Darkness ” Malbolgia” and becomes a Shapeshifting avenger named ” Spawn” so that he can see his wife again. The DVD Director’s cut is the only one worth watching instead of the lousy PG-13 Version that they had dumbed down, i know that The Clown ( John Leguizomo) can be annoying but you can just forgive that and just see this movie with a different if interesting twist to the superhero stuff and some spectacular visual effects.
Review by Danny for Spawn – The Director’s Cut (New Line Platinum Series)
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Films of this sort require you to take an enormous amount of disbelief, but even when knowing this, it’s still an ugly and pretty bad movie. When I first saw the trailer for “Spawn,” my mouth dropped in sheer joy. It was released in the summer of ’97, which is when I had just begun reading the Spawn comic books, and I really couldn’t wait to see it. Roger Ebert gave it three and a half stars, and I expected some sort of revisit to Batman’s glory days…But, oh, man. What a disappointment. For the first five minutes of the film, I was very much hooked. It opens with a merciless assasination, and goes headfirst into probably the best opening credits sequence I’ve ever seen in my life. But after that, it goes totally downhill. The special effects are great, but the script is cartoonish, and the acting is remarkably bad. Michael Jai White (who played the title role in HBO’s Tyson) is okay as Spawn, but his overracting and bad delivery of emotion get to be rather tiresome. John Leguizamo is Clown, the Devil’s cronie, a character so campy and corny, it made me want to laugh out loud. And then there’s Martin Sheen, who plays an unbelievably evil mortal bent on world domination (original, huh?). His performance is nothing spectacular, either.But despite bad acting, I think most of the fault should fall on director Mark Dippe. New Line should have hired someone else for this movie, like Tim Burton or Alex Proyas, because aside from doing special effects, this guy doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing. Some of the camera angles just make you scratch your head and wonder, “Why?” I give “Spawn” two stars for the special effects and the opening credits sequence. Pretty sad, huh? Yeah, well, if you’re about to see it for the first time, you’ll agree with me.P.S. — Spawn’s cape was awesome.
Review by for Spawn – The Director’s Cut (New Line Platinum Series)
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Spectacular special effects, a spooky prduction design, and superb action sequences can’t overcome a vague and confusing plot. Although watchable, you’ll probably hate yourself the next day.