Spawn

Director: Mark Dippe
Cast:
Michael Jai White
Theresa Randle
Mertin Sheen
John Leguizamo

When government assassin Michael Jai White tries to clean up his act, his boss (Martin Sheen) arranges to have him killed. Plunging into the underworld, he is reborn as the comic book character Spawn, back to the world of the living to avenge his death and see his wife for one last time.

Visually stunning and crammed with great performances from White and especially John Leguizamo as the clown, "Spawn" is also a disgraceful mess. I'm a pretty smart guy, and I couldn't tell what was going on for the first half of the flick, a confusion that melded into frustration by movie's end. Red herrings, sudden plot contrivances and a general mean-spiritedness make this movie the equivalent of a cake with too much red frosting—gorgeous, but bad for your heart. With Nicol Williamson and Theresa Randle.

—Ian Williams

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