History YMMV / Spawn1997

* SpecialEffectFailure: The computer effects--the majority of which were done by Creator/{{I|ndustrialLightAndMagic}}LM--have not aged well since the movie's 1997 release. Spawn's cape only appears when in use (either for dramatic effect or when he makes use of its shapeshifting power), since it was difficult to animate. Plus, Malebolgia's[[note]]Not done by ILM, but by [[Creator/SantaBarberaStudios another company]].[[/note]] mouth does not remotely sync with his words, and Hell just looks like something out of a (subpar, mind you) Platform/{{Playstation}} 1 game, complete with Hell's army of [=JPEG=] soldiers (who are obviously 2D and loop a short animation). It's especially jarring considering the great practical and make-up effects for Spawn and the Clown.
* {{Squick}}: You know the part where Clown eats a piece of pizza he found in a dumpster? The one covered in maggots? Leguizamo really ate that.

** Malebolgia's design. Terrible CGI aside, whoever thought that Satan should look like a muppet Chinese crested dog should have their head examined.

* SpecialEffectFailure: The computer effects--the majority of which were done by Creator/{{I|ndustrialLightAndMagic}}LM--have not aged well since the movie's 1997 release. Spawn's cape only appears when in use (either for dramatic effect or when he makes use of its shapeshifting power), since it was difficult to animate. Plus, Malebolgia's[[note]]Not done by ILM, but by [[Creator/SantaBarberaStudios another company]].[[/note]] mouth does not remotely sync with his words, and Hell just looks like something out of a (subpar, mind you) UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}} 1 game, complete with Hell's army of [=JPEG=] soldiers (who are obviously 2D and loop a short animation). It's especially jarring considering the great practical and make-up effects for Spawn and the Clown.

** "Skin Up Pin Up" by Music/{{Mansun}} gets an even better remix by {{Music/808State}}, being a blood-pumping Britpop-Industrial hybrid that has perfect energy to match Spawn. The song can be heard during the credits.

** "Skin Up Pin Up" by Music/{{Mansun}} gets an even better remix by Music/808State, being a blood-pumping Britpop-Industrial hybrid that has perfect energy to match Spawn. The song can be heard during the credits.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Say what you want about the film itself, but the CultSoundtrack is easily the best part, featuring songs that have rock and metal bands collaborating with electronica and techno artists and groups.

** "Long Hard Road Out Of Hell" by Music/MarilynManson and Music/SneakerPimps, an industrial metal song that has a mix of melodic and heavy moments, as well as Kelli Ali’s beautiful vocals, which mix surprisingly well with Manson’s signature angry style.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbs6GvLeEXQ Satan]] by Music/{{Orbital}}, the song in the opening credits. The soundtrack version with [[{{Music/Metallica}} Kirk Hammett]] is cool, too.

** [[AmbitionIsEvil CIA Director Jason Wynn]] is a power-hungry man in league with the forces of Hell. Believing they will allow him to [[TakeOverTheWorld rule Earth]], Wynn tricks agents into killing innocents and has Simmons murdered in a dirty mission, setting up an explosion that kills thousands of innocent villagers. Killing millions to perfect his bioweapon, [[SyntheticPlague Heat-16]], Wynn is convinced to attach himself to the weapon's switch, threatening to wipe out the world if it doesn't submit to his rule. When the revived Simmons tries to kill him, Wynn takes his family hostage, including Simmons' young daughter.

* CompleteMonster: [[MonsterClown Clown]]/[[OneWingedAngel Violator]] is as monstrous as his comic counterpart. The chief lieutenant of the devil [[GreaterScopeVillain Malebolgia]], who sent him to Earth to start Armageddon, he's a revolting demon who gets off on violence and depravity, even at the expense of his allies. He makes a deal with black ops security chief Jason Wynn by offering him dominion of the world in exchange for creating a bioweapon that would kill most of humanity, after first having it tested on thousands of people. Malebolgia can then use the souls of the dead as his army to invade and destroy Heaven. Clown initially orders the death of Al Simmons/Spawn at Wynn's hands, recruiting Simmons after his return to Earth to lead Hell's army. He convinces Wynn to [[DeadMansSwitch attach the virus to his heart rate]] after letting Spawn kill Wynn's top assassin, Jessica Priest, then manipulates Spawn into killing Wynn to release the virus. When this fails, the frustrated Clown tries to rape Spawn's ex-fiancée Wanda in front of Spawn while [[ForcedToWatch forcing him to watch]], and promises that he'll slaughter the rest of Wanda's family--including her new husband Terry and their [[WouldHurtAChild 4-year old daughter Cyan]]--when he's done.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: While the film had mixed reactions from moviegoers, fans, and negative reception from critics alike, one character that stood out was Jessica Priest, who was liked enough that she later became a CanonImmigrant. The fact that [[MsFanservice she]] [[EvilIsSexy wasn't hard on the eyes]] didn't hurt either.

* SpecialEffectFailure: The computer effects--the majority of which were done by Creator/{{I|ndustrialLightAndMagic}}LM--have not aged well since the movie's 1997 release. Spawn's cape only appears when in use (either for dramatic effect or when he makes use of its shapeshifting power), since it was difficult to animate. Plus, Malebolgia's[[note]]Not done by ILM, but by [[Creator/SantaBarberaStudios another company]].[[/note]] mouth does not remotely sync with his words, and Hell just looks like something out of a (subpar, mind you) UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}} 1 game, complete with the Hell's army of [=JPEG=] soldiers (who are obviously 2D and loop a short animation). It's especially jarring considering the great practical and make-up effects for Spawn and the Clown.

** Jason Wynn's EstablishingCharacterMoment, which tries way to hard to show him as ObviouslyEvil; he has scorpions in his ashtray, his henchwoman plays with a tarantula, and his office has pictures of ''nuclear explosions''. The ridiculously over-the-top of this scene was mocked by both [[WebVideo/TheBlockbusterBuster ERod]] and WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic.

* IdiotPlot:
** Especially the last third of the film. Clown has convinced Jason Wynn have the trigger to a bio weapon implanted that will be set off if his heart stops beating, which he plans to have happen by having Al Simmons do the deed. Later Simmons goes to rescue Wanda and her family when Wynn shows up for little to no reason and then Clown starts a fight with Simmons which prevents him from being able to seek to kill Wynn. As Clown himself notes in an earlier scene, both him and Hell win long as one of the two dies; sure, Hell wants one of them to murder the other, but all they really require is one to die. All he has to do once the fight starts going south is to rip Jason's head off (attack a mortal man) instead of wasting time fighting Al and Cogliostro in Hell (two empowered men working together).
** Malebolgia's master plan is to choose a skilled operative to lead Hell's army and jump-start the apocalypse. In order to do that he has to have that operative killed, sent to Hell, and then make a deal with him to turn him into a Spawn and then return him to Earth to kill Jason Wynn. The entire plan hinges on getting Simmons to kill Wynn, but Simmons still has a conscience and a living family to consider, and so the plan fails. If Malebolgia had instead simply chosen someone skilled who is completely amoral and has no human connections, and is possibly also power-hungry, this plan would have gone off without a hitch. In fact, if Malebolgia had just selected Jessica Priest to be Spawn instead of Simmons, the forces of evil would have won. She would have been perfect.

** Clown, played with [[LargeHam scenery-chewing gusto]] by Creator/JohnLeguizamo, steals the show in the movie.

** Especially the last third of the film. Clown has convinced Jason Wynn have the trigger to a bio weapon implanted that will be set off if his heart stops beating, which he plans to have happen by having Al Simmons do the deed. Later Simmons goes to rescue Wanda and her family when Wynn shows up for little to no reason and then Clown starts a fight with Simmons which prevents him from being able to seek to kill Wynn.
** Malebolgia's master plan is to choose a skilled operative to lead Hell's army and jump-start the apocalypse. In order to do that he has to have that operative killed, sent to Hell, and then make a deal with him to turn him into a Spawn and then return him to Earth to kill Jason Wynn. The entire plan hinges on getting Simmons to kill Wynn, but Simmons still has a conscience and a living family to consider, and so the plan fails. If Malebolgia had instead simply chosen someone skilled who was completely amoral and had no human connections, and was possibly also power-hungry, this plan would have gone off without a hitch. In fact, if Malebolgia had just selected Jessica Priest to be Spawn instead of Simmons, the forces of evil would have won. She would have been perfect.

* SpecialEffectFailure: The computer effects--the majority of which were done by Creator/{{I|ndustrialLightAndMagic}}LM--have not aged well since the movie's 1997 release. Spawn's cape only appears when in use (either for dramatic effect or when he makes use of its shapeshifting power), since it was difficult to animate. Plus, Malebolgia's[[note]]Not done by ILM, but by [[Creator/SantaBarberaStudios another company]].[[/note]] mouth does not remotely sync with his words, and Hell just looks like something out of a (subpar, mind you) UsefulNotes/{{Playstation}} 1 game. It's especially jarring considering the great practical and make-up effects for Spawn and the Clown.

* HarsherInHindsight: Spawn is very close with Cyan, with the obvious implication that she's his daughter. But later in the comics, we learn that she is ''not'' Al's daughter and he had been in denial about the fact that he was an abusive husband who caused Wanda to miscarry when she ''was'' pregnant with his child. [[spoiler:Though ''Resurrection'' does mitigate this by revealing the abuse was actually a lie itself to manipulate Al.]]

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The scene with Clown wearing a cheerleading costume doing a dance number which comes out of nowhere, serves no purpose and which the protagonist doesn't even see happening. The devil himself ends the moment by dragging the clown back to hell to tell him to quit fucking around.

-->'''Clown:''' No more clowning around! I am not The Vindicator, or The Victimizer, or The Vaporizer, or The Vibrator! I am, '''THE VIOLATOR!''' (''transforms'')