Spawn (1997)

Catching Up On Cinema

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This month is “Dark Hero” month at Catching Up On Cinema

All month long, Kyle and Trevor will be reviewing superhero movies of the antihero or dark hero variety!

This week, Trevor and Kyle are joined by the latter's brother, Nik, to review Mark A.Z. Dippe's, Spawn (1997)!

Adapted from Todd McFarlane's comic of the same name, Spawn (1997) is a messy and often boring superhero film from the nu metal school of aesthetics and tone.

Debuting via publisher Image Comics in 1992, Spawn's popularity continues to endure to this day, leading to guest appearances in video games like Mortal Kombat 11, and a long rumored 2nd live action film currently being pitched to Blumhouse and other film studios.

Starring Michael Jai White as the titular Spawn/Al Simmons, the film represents the feature directorial debut of Mark Dippe, whose experience in CGI animation and compositing likely served as the impetus for putting him at the helm of an effects intensive film like Spawn.

Uneven in pace, tone, and consistency of effects quality, Spawn is a frustrating film that's fleeting positive elements are so scant, and zip by with such rapidity, that the film's trailer may very well consist of every worthwhile shot in the film.

Financially successful (after rental and VHS sales), Spawn, much like the comic from which its, for lack of a better term, spawned, retains a mixed legacy, of being alternately reviled, or lauded as a cult classic, depending on who you ask, and more importantly, how big a fan they are of Korn or Marilyn Manson.

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