(3 out of 4 Elvis Heads)

OK, so you're either into comics or you're not, which means that either you've already seen Spawn or you have no idea what it's about, so here goes…

The Concept

Todd McFarlane revolutionized the comics industry when he quit his lucrative and immensely successful Spiderman book at Marvel Comics and created his own company (Image) with Spawn as his flagship. He is a hero among all who constantly rage against corporate America's squashing of the individual, and their financial rights to what they produce artistically. It is consistently among he bestselling comics and continues to provoke complaints from some parents based on it's cartoonish, demonic-laden storyline. But the kids think it's way cool.

The Movie

The movie is pretty much like the comic book; whether that's a good thing or not is based on your taste. Spawn is a flashy, effects-laden adolescent version of Faust, except without any weighty moral dilemmas. Our hero(?) is tricked into making a bad deal with the devil (who is one of the only poorly realized computer effects in this ambitious visual feast) to lead the armies of darkness against Heaven and Earth, but later refuses to go along with the plan. Wisecracking clowns from hell, some ultra-cool, state of the art computer effects, some great fight sequences between oversized demons and very slick production values make for an entertaining, if somewhat lightweight diversion. Adolescent fluff, but then that's not always a bad thing. Definitely worth a matinee.