There are moments in Spawn that stand out with exceptional creativity, but what truly stands out about the movie is just how much of a mess it is.

The screenplay is a wreck, the acting is stiff and unconvincing, and the whole thing seems to fly by so fast, that we don't get a chance to experience much other than a look at some nifty visuals. In fairness, I suppose it is easy enough to argue that Spawn delivers its share of action sequences for a ninety minute movie, but perhaps it needs to back down a bit. It needs more story. In the end, Spawn feels like nothing more or less than an exercise in CGI and make-up effects.

It is pretty difficult to get involved with the story, in part because it makes no sense, but mostly because we simply do not care. The character of Al Simmons is about as cheap and plastic as the armour he suits up in during the second half of the feature. Quite frankly I don't find him all that likable. He is cold and nasty, even as a superhero. I really hate it when the good guys talk like the bad guys; when they cackle or make snarly remarks, like Dr. Westlake in the Darkman series.

Some of the special effects work, some don't. Our hero has a blood red cape which can expand to the size of Texas (don't ask me how). I liked that effect. The thing sort of has a computer generated life of its own, and its elegance clashes with the plastic of Spawn's armour. the primary villain is a clown from hell, who can turn into a ten foot armour plated beast which looks a bit like a cousin of the Queen from Aliens. That is another good effect. The climax takes us deep into the fiery pit of hell, which unfortunately does NOT so convincing. My screen saver is a more intimidating computer generated image. I was reminded a bit of the Brinstar level from Super Smash Brothers.

Like so many films do, Spawn ends on a note that just cries out for a sequel. Needless to say, there isn't one and there never will be. Spawn is entertaining in parts, but definitely not as a whole.

After watching Spawn, I felt disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high, as the comic is not easy to adapt at all, but this film could have been so much better than it was. But to no avail, there are actually some redeeming qualities, which I'd better start with before explaining what I found wrong with Spawn.

First of all, an unrecognisable John Leguizamo is absolutely brilliant as the Clown, while over the top, it was almost very sinister and sadistic, somewhat reminiscent of Pennywise and the Joker. The extremely graphic and violent images, helped by clever zooms and decent special effects were also very well done. I also liked the cameo from Sam and Twitch at the end, which will be likely to please fans of the comic.

However, there are a lot of things that didn't work. I for one found the soundtrack intrusive and generic, and while the visuals were great the direction for me was not, it needed a little more subtlety. While Leguizamo's clown has some delicious lines that is delivered with relish, the rest of the script is very weak. Also while I had no problem whatsoever with Leguizamo, I cannot say the same for the remainder of the cast. Martin Sheen is given very little to do as Wynn, while all Michael Jai White manages to do is act brooding, instead he forgets to act. Plus Nicol Williamson's voice over did nothing for me, it felt somewhat tacked on. Then we have a story that is too rushed with some unintentionally laughable parts like the Devil and the disastrous lip synching and the climax to put it bluntly is a bit of a mess, then again I wasn't expecting a perfect climax considering how little character development there was.

Overall, has redeeming qualities, but a big disappointment overall. 4/10 Bethany Cox

Much hoopla attended this film when it first came out. It was the first Image Comic book character to be made into a movie, probably most remarkable today for beating out the Marvel franchise by a full three years prior to 2000's "X-Men". The hoopla quickly died out however, and hopes for a much anticipated sequel even before this movie's release was confined to the dust bin along with the hopes for any other Image movie follow-ups.

I followed the comic for a time, and the movie pretty much took on the aspect of the early story line from what I remember. It had the regular characters like the Clown/Violator (John Leguizamo),Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen),Cogliostro (Nicol Williamson) and Terry Fitzgerald (D.B. Sweeney). But much like the comic book, the story was not easy to follow, and the characters seemed to pop up at random without much coherence. The main issue I have with the character of Spawn (Michael Jai White) is not so much with the assassin turned minion of Hell, but the idea that not a single person seemed to be turned off by his grotesque appearance. Not even kids like Zack (Mike Hughes) or Al Simmons' own daughter Cyan (Sydni Beaudoin). You would think Spawn would at least get a 'Eeeuuuwwww' response from some mere mortal on earth, given he had a brutally scarred face that even a mother couldn't love.

With that, most of the story's credibility goes down hill, especially given the main premise. Spawn is recruited by Malebolgia, Master of Hell to lead Hell's army against Heaven in a final Armageddon-like showdown. Spawn/Al Simmons' former employer Wynn has a device implanted in his heart that's linked to deadly Heat-16 explosives, the idea being that if someone were to kill him, the explosives would detonate, releasing a deadly virus that would start Armageddon and initiate Hell's attack on Heaven. But wasn't that Malebolgia's point anyway? Why involve a middle man when they could have begun the assault at any time on their own terms? Why didn't the screenwriters think of that?

The best I can say for the film are some of the neat special effects, notwithstanding the gross make-up job on Spawn himself. His cape was a whole lot cooler than Batman's, having a life of it's own it seems, and morphing into a number of varied effects. But it's not enough to salvage the picture, even if you were a fan of the comic book character. But the good news I guess, is that the Spawn comic lives on, still going strong as I write this with it's two hundred and seventy eighth issue!