Peter’s picks with comics and flicks

11/21/2015

 

This month’s flick to pick:

Spawn (1997)

 

Plot:

Based on the comic book series by Todd McFarlane, when soldier Al Simmons (played by Michael Jai White, Black Dynamite) is gunned down by his fellow soldiers and his superior officer, Jason Winn (played by Martin Sheen, The Amazing Spider-Man), he is sent to hell to become its general in the army against heaven. Five years later, he becomes a satanic superhero trying to protect his ex-wife and her new family and save the world from Winn and the devil’s right hand man, a fat blue faced clown demon known only as the Violator (played by John Lugizamo, Super Mario Brothers: the movie).

 

My opinion on this:

Despite all the negative comments that many people who have seen this movie say about it, my only problem with this movie is its crappy CGI and confusing plot.

Now I know this was made in 1997, and CGI wasn’t all that, but the effects in Spawn make the 1998 Godzilla or the 2003 Hulk look half descent. From the hero’s flowing red cape to half assed mouth movements of the main villain, the CGI looks too much like a video game based movie like “Mortal Kombat 2”.

Other than that, the character development of Spawn is portrayed very perfectly. Michael Jai White really took the tragic comic book character and really brought him to life.

The plot, however, is a whole different ballgame.

I’ve never read or even picked up a single Spawn comic in my life. So maybe I should have read at least the first one before seeing this movie.

The main problem I have with this plot is the bad guys’ evil plan to destroy the world. First the Violator wants Spawn to kill Jason Winn, but the Violator is also helping Jason Winn destroy the entire world. It’s just too confusing for me to even explain.

Basically, if you see this movie on TV or on Netflix, give it a watch. It may be a bit confusing and poorly animated, but it’s got good character development and awesome action sequences.

 

My rating: J Somewhat Good