We go to the year 1991 for this edition of the 12 days of reviews for a look at the Sam Raimi superhero film Darkman. Following the success of the first two movies in the Evil Dead series, Sam Raimi wanting to try his hand at the superhero genre. After failed attempts at getting the rights to Batman and the Shadow, Raimi instead came up with his own superhero, and on August 24th, 1990 after a strong advertising campaign, Darkman was released to theaters and made around 48 million at the box office, tripling its 16 million dollar budget.
Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) is a scientist trying to create synthetic skin. Despite his best efforts, the best he gets is skin that can stay solid for 99 minutes.But before he can celebrate his success, a group of criminals led by the evil Robert Durant show up and destroy the place, killing Peyton's assistant, and leaving Peyton to die in an explosion. The explosion doesn't kill him however, but it leaves his body scarred and burned, and his sanity all but fully destroyed. Managing to find what was left of his synthetic skin experiment, he sets out to get revenge by using the skin to take the place of the criminals who ruined his life, and kill them off one by one.
But the other reason for the need for synthetic skin is to make some to try to find some way to regain his relationship with his girlfriend Julie (played by Frances McDormand). But he soon begins to learn that he may never truly be happy, and that he's nothing more than a freak now. Things unravel as to why Durant attacked Westlake, and who is involved, as we get tons of action and thrills by movie's end.
Sam Raimi originally wanted Bruce Campbell for the role of Peyton, and while I love Bruce, Liam Neeson is the perfect choice for this role. Going from the kindly Peyton to the scarred and disturbed version he later becomes. You really couldn't cast this role with anyone else and receive a better performance. And the makeup effects are amazing as well. The rest of the cast is also top notch. I especially like Larry Drake as Durant, as he makes a pretty menacing villain.
Another thing I really like is the concept of synthetic skin, which is done in a process that feels like it was the inspiration for 3D printing. And for early 90's CGI, it all still looks really cool. The movie's score is also pretty epic, as we get Danny Elfman on the job. However, I would gripe that the main theme suffers from the same issue Dick Tracy does in that it sounds a little too familiar to the Batman theme. But I guess Danny was just going with what works, because it's still a great sounding track.
I do think my only other gripe is that the film does feel a tad like Robocop. Nice guy gets pretty much killed by criminals, is given a 2nd chance at life albeit either deformed or transformed, they seek revenge, and soon learn that the criminals that destroyed his life are working for someone who is higher in power. Still, even though they feel similar in tone, I still enjoy Darkman's look, feel, and tone. It knows when to be sad, when to be disturbing, when to be exciting. And the whole story gives it a feel of if some sort of Phantom of the Opera-esque superhero movie. If you haven't seen Darkman, I definitely recommend it. If you're looking for a classic, and often overlooked superhero flick, this is one you can't do wrong with.