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Blu-Ray : A Rental at Best
Ranking:
Sale Price: $15.49 Last Price: $ Buy now! 3rd Party 15.49 In Stock
Release Date: July 10th, 2012 Movie Release Year: 1997

Spawn: Director's Cut

Overview -

Five years after he was murdered by his own colleagues in a covert government operation, Al Simmons makes a pact with the devil to be resurrected so that he may see his wife Wanda once more. In return for the favor, the devil requires, in typically Faustian fashion, that Simmons lead Hell's Army for the destruction of humankind. Blessed in life with extraordinary killing skills, Simmons is even more deadly with the backing of his new master and the changling powers he has at his disposal. As he begins to discover and exercise his new strengths, he encounters two figures who direct him to use his powers in order to serve two different agendas. Cogliostro encourages Spawn to fight the devil and become a new champion for humankind, while Clown goads Spawn into continuing to serve his new master and lead the Armageddon.

OVERALL:
A Rental at Best
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
Region Free
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/AVC MPEG-4
Length:
96
Aspect Ratio(s):
1.85:1
Audio Formats:
Portuguese Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Subtitles/Captions:
Spanish
Special Features:
Trailers
Release Date:
July 10th, 2012

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

The real challenge in watching 'Spawn' is not letting your mind wonder why anyone ever greenlit this mess. From the start, as Nicol Williamson's corny voiceover narration describes a war brewing between heaven and hell, the movie seems like a DTV release made with inexpensive computer graphics even from a 1997 price point. Fifteen years later, things are made visibly worse as animated characters, especially the devil-like creature in Hell that looks like a hairless Chinese Crested (you know, the world's ugliest dog) with horns, jump into action with the same fluid movement as a 'Gumby' episode. I had to keep reminding myself that this wince-inducing adaptation of Todd McFarlane's comic book series did in fact hit theaters at one point, but I don't recall the CGI being anything to gloat about even then.

In fact, if memory serves right, much of the publicity attention went to John Leguizamo and his scary clown prosthetics. Of the entire movie, he's the only real highlight, which is actually rather sad since his performance and dialogue are genuinely awful. The one thing he does right in the part is making the character a frightening children's performer and proving that clowns really are Satan's foot soldiers from the lower depths of Hell. Aside from that, he spends most of his time spewing lame jokes about farts, rotten food, and doing out-of-place impersonations. Oh, and he supposedly plays a confusing role as the ringleader of the Apocalypse, which leads to the one and only sincere piece of humor to garner any laughs when he tells Martin Sheen with a straight face he only wants to bring the apocalypse now.

Speaking of which, how did Sheen get roped into this hellish debacle? This is the man destined to be President of the United States only two years later on the Emmy Award-winning series 'The West Wing,' and here he is as the amoral, nefarious head of a covert government agency. We could shrug off his appearance as one which shows his range as a talented actor — after all, he does decently well as a truly vicious baddie, Wynn, compared to his kindhearted but reasonably tough Jed Bartlet. But truth is the 90s were a very slow period in his career, possibly doing this role for both the payday as well as a means to stay relevant with moviegoers. Whatever the case, his performance is downright silly and more cartoonish than serious. You can almost imagine him twirling a handlebar moustache every time he smiles with pride at the camera.


I suppose I should get to the plot at some point in this review, so here goes. Michael Jai White plays a mercenary turned Faustian-like superhero dubbed "Spawn" and meant to lead Hell's army into Armageddon. Leguizamo's overweight clown functions as a sort of guide, continually trying to influence White's path towards the dark side, like a little floating devil over his right shoulder. Of course, there's just enough humanity left within Spawn to create doubt and a hokey drama ensues where White is expected to show emotion over his family beneath the burn-victim prosthetics. Williamson comes in as the little angelic mentor floating over White's other shoulder, cajoling him to use his evil powers on the side of good. This eventually evolves into another videogame-like battle where lots of forsaking takes place and makes obvious hints at a sequel which never happened.

Visually, 'Spawn' does have something to offer in terms of entertainment value with darkly gothic photography by Guillermo Navarro ('Pan's Labyrinth,' 'Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn') and the sinfully moody music of Graeme Revell ('The Crow,' 'The Craft'). Unfortunately, it all goes to waste due to the sloppy directing of Mark A.Z. Dippé, who's done far more respectable work as a visual effects supervisor on films like 'Jurassic Park' and 'Terminator 2.' The entire movie is embarrassingly amateur with a choppy pace that's always at odds with itself and never settles long enough on a single emotional level to be engaging. Had this actually been released straight to home video, many of this film's negative aspects could be forgiven, but since that is not the case, Dippé doesn't have the chops for a modestly-budgeted, live-action origin story, and 'Spawn' suffers for it, coming in as a sophomoric superhero flick just a cut above 'Batman & Robin,' 'Supergirl,' 'Superman IV' and the horrendous 'Catwoman.'


The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

Warner Home Video brings 'Spawn' to Blu-ray on a Region Free, BD50 disc inside a blue eco-vortex keepcase. At startup, the disc goes straight to a main menu still with generic options and music in the background.

Video Review

Ranking:

This is one ugly AVC-encoded transfer that offers only a slight improvement to its DVD counterpart. The 1.85:1 frame is blurry and indistinct for a majority of the runtime, with a couple moments of decent detailed clarity reminding viewers that they are in fact watching a Blu-ray.

For a very dark movie, black levels are a real disappointment and rarely pleasing to the eye, alternating between passable and mostly dingy. Shadow delineation is thankfully not affected much, but it's neither as good as it should. Contrast is flat with whites that tend to run a tad hot, creating some minor posterization and blooming in the highlights. Strangely, several sequences appear washed out and noticeably dull, ruining skin tones and often pronouncing the grain structure to the point of mosquito noise. Topping it all off, colors are generally lifeless and drab, although not as bad as the rest of the picture.


Audio Review

Ranking:

Had 'Spawn' been properly remastered for his high-def debut, I'm sure this DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack would sound much better than what we actually get. Don't get me wrong, the track does offer a great deal of activity in the rears, feeling quite immersive in several occasions. Whether it is atmospherics which nicely extend the soundfield or action sequences with tons of clear directionality, the way in which the design employs the back speakers is the one major positive this otherwise bad lossless mix.

Where we come across some serious issues is in the front soundstage, starting with the dynamic range. The higher frequencies noticeably clip and distort during much of the action, sounding like high-pitched squeals with hardly any distinct detail. This is made especially apparent when Spawn's cape expands and flies all around the room. It's far too bright and piercing, basically like someone turned up the volume on the special effects and called it a day. The low-end is also loud and heavy, but not at all articulate yet very boomy with several hints of noise. The only good moments are during the songs. Through all this, vocals are occasionally drowned out by the commotion, as in the scene when Spawn and Clown race to Wanda's house.

In the end, the film's sound design seems to have much to offer in terms of a good lossless mix, but just ends up sounding loud and obnoxious instead.


Special Features

Ranking:

Special features are ported over from the DVD and they're decently extensive.

  • Audio Commentary — Director and co-writer Mark A.Z. Dippé kicks things off not only by announcing who he is but also by taking full responsibility. It's actually a good-humored start to a light-hearted conversation with producer Clint Goldman and visual effects supervisor Steve "Spaz" Williams. Occasionally, the three men talk earnestly about the production, adapting the comic book to the big screen, and the overall look, but they spend most of the time joking and reminiscing about being on set. Creator Todd McFarlane jumps in from a separate recording with comments about the story and themes covered in the film.

  • Making of Spawn (SD, 22 min) — A short EPK doc hosted by Michael Jai White, covering the usual aspects of the production like the plot, the characters and the source material.

  • Todd McFarlane: Chapter and Verse (SD, 20 min) — Broken into seven separate parts which can be watched sequentially, this lengthy interview with the comic book creator talks about the Spawn character, the story and the movie adaptation.

  • Storyboard Comparisons (SD) — Five videos comparing drawings made in pre-production with the final CG effect.

  • Still Gallery (SD) — There are actually two galleries ("Original Todd McFarlane Sketches" and "Spawn Concept/Sketch Galleries") from which to choose, showing various ideas created for the development of the characters and the movie.

  • Music Videos (SD) — Two crappy music videos with really crappy music: one called "Trip Like I Do" by Filter & The Crystal Method, and the other from Marilyn Manson & the Sneaker Pimps entitled "Long Hard Road Out of Hell."

  • Trailers (SD) — Along with the theatrical trailer for the movie, there is also a preview for HBO's animated movie that can be found in the "Behind the Story" section of the main menu.

In 1997, Todd McFarlane's hugely popular comic book series, 'Spawn,' was brought to the big screen with massively disappointing results, feeling more like a DTV release than something that actually hit theaters. Despite some attractive photography, the film suffers from mediocre direction, a choppy pace, bad acting, and terrible CGI effects even for a 1997 feature. The Blu-ray arrives with an ugly audio and video presentation that only mildly improves upon its DVD counterpart. Supplements are the same, but only the most devoted fans and those with fond memories of the movie will even consider picking this up.