Silver Screen
by Eddie Armani
As the flood of summer movies winds down to a trickle, the
long awaited Spawn finally makes its big screen debut. Based on a
popular Todd MacFarlane comic book series that has already
"spawned" a line of high quality action figures, this film is packed with
state-of-the-art special effects.
The anti-hero of Spawn is, interestingly, a covert agent who
dies and goes to hell (!) but returns to Earth with devil-given powers,
in exchange for leading Satan's army to world domination. His ulterior
motive for accepting these terms, since his heart really isn't into the
destruction-of-Earth scene, is simply to get back to his wife again. As
if Spawn didn't have his hands full trying to double-cross the Devil, he
must also contend with a lot more. The metaphysical metaphor of
having an angel and demon sitting on either shoulder, trying to talk
you into action, is realized here in the form of a good guy mentor
(whom Spawn even refers to, sarcastically, as Yoda) and the evil
Clown, played by John Leguizomo. John is most remembered for his
Hispanic drag queen character from To Wong Foo, Thanks For
Everything Julie Newmar, and is unrecognizable as the opposite
extreme, the hideous (and flatulent) Clown. Aside from the computer
animation provided by George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic, this
performance is the best thing about this film. Martin Sheen's stint as
Spawn's villainous ex-boss, pales by comparison. All in all, Spawn
delivers fast paced entertainment for an undemanding audience.
An even more pleasant surprise is Conspiracy Theory, an
intelligent and comical suspense thriller. Mel Gibson is Jerry, a
paranoid cab driver, that actually is right about one of his many
conspiracy theories, and Julia Roberts, as Alice, a justice department
worker and object of his obsession. When a secret government
agency decides to close in on Jerry because he knows too much, he
and Alice become involved in a very intriguing game of cat-and-
mouse, and many unpredictable surprises are revealed along the way.
Jerry is constantly bending the world's ear, ranting about outrageous
conspiracy theories. He's so paranoid that he resorts to keeping his
refrigerator and everything in it under lock-and-key. (Consequently,
this film has more hilarious moments than many comedies.) But it
turns out all that paranoia pays off, because watching Jerry use his
ingenuity to elude the bad guys and save his own neck is utterly
fascinating. Gibson does a remarkable job of making Jerry vaguely
unnerving, child-like, and ultimately endearing. Roberts gives a
restrained performance as the normal person who gets drawn into
Jerry's bizarre world, and grounds the film in human emotion. We
watch as her character makes the gradual transition from a person
who suffers Jerry's antics reluctantly to one that's protective of him.
Explanation of seemingly nonsensical events, such as Jerry's
built in compulsion to purchase copies of A Catcher In The Rye are
withheld an excruciatingly long time, but the film is subtle rather than
obvious and rewards the audience for paying attention to detail. Don't
miss it!
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