By Robert Scucci
| Published 46 seconds ago
As a casual fan of the superhero genre who once watched over 30 MCU films in just as many days on a dare, I’ve seen it all, and quickly. During that crash course, I was reminded just how few superhero films and comic book adaptations existed before 2008’s Iron Man permanently changed the game. While blasting through modern entries and watching the genre eat itself alive in real time, the first thought that popped into my head was, “Spawn is so much better than all of this crap.”
Having seen its release in 1997, it’s worth noting that I was only nine years old when Spawn hit theaters, and there was a very real chance nostalgia was doing some heavy lifting. That suspicion isn’t exactly unfounded given that the film currently sits at a 17 percent critical score on Rotten Tomatoes.
After finally giving Spawn a proper critical watch as an adult, I can confidently say it’s rough at times, and I’ll get into why, but it’s nowhere near 17-percent bad. In fact, it handles the anti-hero redemption arc better than most of its modern counterparts. Its biggest sin is simply arriving years too early. Some of the effects are tough to look at, but when you stack it against something like 1995’s Mortal Kombat, it’s light years ahead while still maintaining its campy, comic book charm.
Solid For Movie Fans, Maybe Not So Great For Comic Fans
Comic books didn’t dominate my childhood, so when I watch adaptations, I try to treat them as standalone films inspired by their source material. Keep that in mind, because I’m not pretending to be an authority on Spawn’s deeper lore. As a movie, Spawn rules. It’s violent, funny, campy, and genuinely ambitious with its effects. Spawn himself looks cool as hell too.
The movie does lean hard into sappy emotional beats, and while those moments occasionally undercut the darker premise, they never push things into eye-rolling territory. At worst, they feel like a studio note trying to make a movie about Hellspawns more palatable for a broader audience.
Spawn centers on CIA operative Al Simmons (Michael Jai White), who is double-crossed by his superior Jason Wynn (Martin Sheen) during a covert mission involving stolen biochemical weapons from North Korea. Simmons is shot by Wynn’s right-hand gal Jessica Priest (Melinda Clarke) and then burned alive as Wynn destroys the facility, leaving nothing behind but ash.
Five years later, Al returns to Earth as a Hellspawn after striking a deal with Malebolgia (voiced by Frank Welker), one of Hell’s rulers who needs a soldier to help usher in the end of days. Al soon learns that his wife Wanda (Theresa Randle) has remarried his best friend and former partner Terry (D.B. Sweeney), and the two are raising his daughter Cyan (Sydni Beaudoin). He witnesses this firsthand at Cyan’s birthday party, which is attended by a deeply unsettling clown for hire who later reveals himself as the Violator (John Leguizamo).
Caught between his personal hell on Earth and the literal hell that birthed him, Al navigates his new existence with help from two opposing forces. The Violator pushes him toward violent revenge, while Cogliostro, a former Hellspawn now aligned with Heaven, helps him understand his powers and fight back against his fate. As Spawn, Al hunts down Jason Wynn and Jessica Priest, only to realize that revenge won’t undo what’s already been lost.
Come For Spawn, Stay For John Leguizamo
At a glance, Spawn feels like a swing and a miss, but it benefits tremendously from hindsight. Its CGI is questionable by modern standards, but in 1997 it was a genuine spectacle. Some of the Hell sequences will make you wince, but after decades of watching studios drown movies in digital sludge, they honestly don’t look all that bad. Spawn’s suit, especially the glowing green bullet wounds that slowly regenerate, gives off a Terminator 2 vibe that I still can’t fault. They look cool, and sometimes that’s enough.
The real reason to revisit Spawn, though, is John Leguizamo’s performance as the Violator. If you need a comparison, imagine a proto version of Frank Reynolds from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. He’s rude, crude, gassy, vulgar, and endlessly entertaining. Whether he’s masquerading as a party clown or cross-dressing as a cheerleader, Leguizamo is clearly having the time of his life under an absurd amount of prosthetics. Even if everything else in the movie falls flat for you, there’s no denying his charisma.
Spawn works best as a proof of concept from an era before comic book movies became mandatory viewing. It’s messy, sure, but the foundation is there for a solid action thriller that understands it’s supposed to be ridiculous. Comic fans may see it as a betrayal of the source material. Movie fans willing to see it on its own terms will find a lot to enjoy.
Spawn is streaming for free on Tubi as of this writing.