Spawn – Review

After some crazy quick exposition about the dark lord Malebolgia recruiting soldiers on Earth and looking for the leader of his dark army, US Marine Corps specialist/CIA Operative Al Simmons is in action, blasting the shit outta the bad guys and setting up this missile thingy while scanning for terrorist targets. Once locked, the missile does its duty. Mission accomplished.

Simmons then heads home to his girl Wanda Blake (Randle), his dog Spaz, and his best friend and co-worker Terry Fitzgerald (Sweeney). The men are oblivious to their boss Jason Wynn (Sheen) and his dealings with the disgusting shorty Clown (Leguizamo), who is a demon on Earth looking for Malebolgia’s ultimate leader. Wynn himself is looking for power when the armies of hell storm the planet. And watching all of this in the shadows? Our strange and hokey narrator, Cogliostro (Williamson).

Simmons bumps heads with Wynn over the fallout of the last mission, and is looking for a way out. Another agent, Priest (Clarke) talks shit while Wynn reminds Al that he is a killing machine that won’t be happy doing anything else. He arranges for Simmons’ transfer out, but after a final job at a North Korean biochemical virus lab where samples must be destroyed. This is top priority.

Well naturally al the shit of heaven, hell and Earth hits an evangelical fan, and the plot pops off. While things don’t go too well for Simmons, there may be deals to be made with devils. As the story moves along, multiple forces look to reconcile with a new being, Spawn. Is he the ultimate leader Hellspawn, or will he wind up being a hero of the street folk?

Spawn is based on a comic which has some really solid ideas, character designs and some okay plots. This adaptation compresses a good portion of the series’ origins into a quick “visuals first, story second” movie. I probably like it more than most people since I do like the character and the comic, and despite its shortcomings I still find it an okay watch.

The quick runtime helps, and I think they got a few things right despite the weak story and thin characterizations. If you can handle some 90s schlock then you may have an okay time, but most critics and fans do not like this movie. I think the cast does a decent job despite the rough dialogue which likely turns plenty of viewers off.

There is a Director’s Cut of this film which adds about 2 minutes of additional runtime, but it does not alter the overall experience.