Spawn: The Directors Cut (UK)

Hmmm... this DVD could have been much better -

The special effects are absolutely amazing - it has the full Music Video `Cant You Trip Like I do`, the interview and the making offers a good insight into the creation of the effects used in the movie!!

I enjoyed the film, but it isn`t actually that good. The special effects go from the laughable (Spawns magic motorbike falling over) to the stunning (Spawns cloak) as does the acting and dialogue.

The film itself is also split into two halves, with the beginning showing a very dark and brooding atmosphere wheras the end is standard hollywood fair - big chase and then the bad guy dies.

The biggest annoyance was the wipes to different scenes - I can see that they were trying to make it seem "comoic book" like, but it is just annoying, as are the voice overs explaining the story.

As a final point the clown stole the whole film.

I liked the look of this when it was first released, but never got round to seeing it at the time. All the reviews I`ve read since have been very off-putting anyway and I distinctly remember one critic describe Spawn as "A devil`s arse of a film"(!). I`ve never been one to follow the common-opinion too blindly, although the awful reputation it garnered did stop me paying full price (I didn`t resist the pull of the bargain-bin though!).

I was still optimistic despite the reverse-hype and viewed this R2 DVD with a very un-biased attitude. Sadly though, it`s not the moody and atmospheric experience I was hoping for and it has LOTS of irritating shortcomings.

For one thing, the actor playing Spawn is, frankly, completely hopeless in the role and his portrayal of the pre-hell version of his character is woeful (forced and OTT). The first 10 minutes are heavy-going because of this and he drags proceedings down to a cheap Van-Damme/Seagal level. The acting is fairly sub-standard throughout actually and only John Leguizamo is totally in-tune with how to play his character (the disgusting "Clown"). Everyone else just seems to be winging-it, including Martin Sheen (he`s very un-menacing and delivers his lines in a "read it a few moments ago" fashion).

Part of the problem is that this movie deperately needs to be edgy and visceral, but the director was forced to keep things in proportion to achieve a PG-13 rating (which the studio wanted). As a result, the finished product is either a muted and undaring shocker, or an overly sinister action romp (depending on how you look at it). This is the Director`s cut on this disc, but it`s still much too safe to be effective and it`s a shame they couldn`t push-the-envelope a little more.

I want to explain the ideas behind the plot itself, but it`s too gnarled and confusing to convey it properly (and I didn`t quite follow some of it to be honest!). It isn`t a clever or particularly unconventional story, it`s just muddled and pretty illogical at times. There are some great action-filled scenes here and there (and you could pick out some very exciting clips), but none of it impresses the viewer (not this viewer anyway) because you`re distractingly baffled by the lack of purpose/sense behind these incidents. Personally, I can`t really enjoy a film if I don`t understand the objectives of the characters or the possible consequences of anything that`s happening.

The visuals are sporadically impressive though and the film switches between earth and hell several times. The CGI for the Spawn character and the earth-bound action is terrific, always well intergrated into the scene and the best examples are almost jaw-droppingly good. The effects for Hell on the other hand (and especially for the Devil himself) are very fake looking and they`re totally incongruous. They`re great in a purely technical sense, but if effects don`t blend in (seemlessly) with the rest of the film then they instantly become a liability. The cartoonish "I`ll get you next time Gadget" voice the Devil speaks with is VERY out of place too and it might have been better to leave him to the viewers imagination (or portray him in a more original way).

The R2 disc is relatively poor because the picture isn`t anamorphic and the sound is only Pro-Logic (although it DOES have some worthwhile extras). If you desperately want to own this movie, then you should get the R1/4 (5.1/Anam) or the French R2 (which has a DTS track).

So, to sum-up. There are occasional moments of interest and a stand-out performance from John Leguizamo (he ate REAL live maggots for one scene!). It`s a shame that a badly executed story and an unspecific tone render this film nigh-on unwatchable.