SPAWN *1/2 (out of four) -a film review by Bill Chambers (For more purple critiques Visit FILM FREAK CENTRAL http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Set/7504)
starring John Leguizamo, Michael Jai White, Martin Sheen, D.B. Sweeney screenplay by Alan McElroy, based on Todd McFarlane's comic books directed by Mark A.Z. Dippe
The makers of Spawn have created something almost as vacuous as this summer's other comic book adaptation, Batman and Robin. Both films make the mistake of adapting for the screen not only the look of their graphic counterparts, but also their monosyllabic dialogue and empty-headed character motivations. In panel-sized morsels, implausible plots and "Rambo"-esque dialogue are often overshadowed by the artwork, but on thirty foot silver screens, it's much more difficult to dismiss the shallowness behind the pretty pictures.
Spawn is ostensibly about an assassin named Simmons (White) who is framed by a corporate baddie (played without irony by Sheen), then set on fire and left for dead. Though the movie skimps on the next few plot points, here's what I could determine: said assassin then becomes the leader of Satan's army, under the tutelage of a flatulating midget named Clown (Leguizamo, grating as always). He is renamed, for reasons unbeknownst, Spawn, and granted a really cool costume that enables him to become something of a human chameleon. But when Spawn spies on a birthday party for his child, he realizes that he can't be the evil superdemon he's expected to be, and he sets about avenging his untimely death.
Typical of summer blockbusters, Spawn is an effects-laden ninety minute rock video. While the visions of hell are laughably crude (think the virtual reality sequences of The Lawnmower Man), Spawn's prehensile outfit and the action sequences are truly something to behold. But the storytelling is completely lacking in emotion (Spawn longs for his wife, but they don't have a single scene together before Simmons' death!), conflict (who will triumph is not anybody's guess), and believability (not that I expected it). So many questions are left unanswered, and I'm sure they won't be addressed in the inevitable sequel.
While last year's The Crow: City of Angels suffered similar problems with its narrative (which was lazy and somewhat incoherent), it had atmosphere to spare and genuine moments of hypnotic power. Spawn is an in-your-face, screaming banshee of a film; these guys know how to graft a comic book onto celluloid, but they haven't the faintest idea how to make a movie.
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