"Spawn" gives us a dark tortured hero and amazing computer-generated effects but, like too many action films today, goes heavy on the special effects and too light on the story.
Todd McFarlane is a comic-book artist best known for his work on "Spider Man," and later "Spawn," a super-hero he created as well as illustrated.
McFarlane has always been a better visual artist than a story teller, and all of the flaws inherent in the original story are prevalent in the big screen spin-off.
First of all, there is no underlying theme to Spawn's superpowers. Spiderman has spider abilities, Batman has bat gadgets and Superman can do everything we'd like to do: fly, shoot heat rays and stop a freight train with his bare hands.
Spawn, on the other hand, has a magic cape that sometimes helps him fly, sometimes acts as a chameleon cloak and sometimes acts like armor. He has chains that fly out of his body and impale people. Also, he cannot die unless his head is cut off.
Trying to discover an underlying premise that binds these three things together will leave even the most creative movie viewer stumped.
As far as the story goes, Spawn is created when military man Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) is betrayed by his superior Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen) at a bio-weapons factory and left for dead when the factory explodes.
Simmons then goes to hell and makes a pact with the devil. He receives his powers in return for leading a demon invasion of earth when then time is right.
Simmons returns to Earth five years later as the hideously deformed Spawn, only to find that his best friend Terry Fitzgerald (D. B. Sweeney) has moved in on his wife (Jessica Priest).
Spawn is upset, and meets up with a henchman of the devil: a foul, flatulent little clown-demon (John Leguizamo). Spawn then sets out on his dark quest for vengeance against Wynn, who has begun to build an evil world-wide consortium of nations.
While Leguizamo's character is interesting and the special effects used to bring him to life are convincing, he is every bit as befuddling as Spawn. Clown is introduced awkwardly, and no attempt is ever made at explaining his eccentricities.
Perhaps the most interesting character in the film is Cogliostro (Nicol William), a 15th century knight who also made a pact with the devil, but turned away to the good side. William played Merlin in the 1981 film "Excalibur," and is every bit as compelling in "Spawn," despite everything else.
Spawn must decide between good and evil, Cogliostro and the devil. Of course, there is never really any question as to whether or not Spawn will make the right decision. "Spawn" attempts to be a psychological thriller, and fails miserably.
Not that many going to see this film are looking for a Dostoyevskyian psychological drama.
The greatest failure of the film is the many details that are left hanging. Clown gives Spawn's child (Sydni Beudoin) a mysterious toy doll that sprays green mist, but nothing ever comes of this.
Moreover, nothing ever comes of Spawn's initial rage at the betrayal of his wife and best friend. When Spawn first learns of the infidelity, a long sequence with fireballs and scorching winds playing around Sweeny's face ensues. Spawn never resolves this issue.
All in all, "Spawn" proves that lots of computer animated special effects are not enough to make a movie exciting and new anymore. Spawn's writhing red cape looks like a silly computer-generated image, which is exactly what it is.
The scenes in "Spawn" with larger-than life monsters are also ineffective and look more like rejected screen shots for "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys" than anything else.
How much a viewer will like "Spawn" may well depend on how much he is willing to suspend disbelief. While the movie has a consistently dark evocative atmosphere, all in all, it relies more on special effects than effective storytelling.
