Darkman Review

 

        After the success of Tim Burton’s Batman, every major studio tried to do their adaptations of popular superheroes. What had transpired is that the studios dug deep to see which one could be made into a film. You had movies like The Phantom and The Shadow, one of the most popular heroes from the early part of the century. They just weren’t good for the general audience to really care for. Director Sam Raimi had wanted to do a comic book adaptation, although he couldn’t secure the rights to Batman or The Shadow. Instead, he did what every director should do, with the studio’s permission, be original. 

1. Hero or Monster

        Before the movie started, there’s a clip of all the Universal Studio’s opening logos to celebrate their 75th anniversary. And knowing who Sam Raimi is, you better believe that Darkman was inspired by Universal’s Monster series of the 1930s. We see a scientist named Peyton Westlake who is an ambitious researcher who tries to recreate synthetic skin to assist victims who have suffered from fire burns. The tech is interesting, and it reminded me of 3-D printers nowadays. 

        Prior to seeing Westlake, we see who the main bad guy is. A local gangster named Durant who eliminates his competition. We’re led to believe that he is going to be the main antagonist. Meanwhile, Westlake has a girlfriend named Julie who’s an attorney for a land developer named Louis Strack. She confronts him for having an incriminating document of illegal bribing. What then transpires is that Durant comes to visit Peyton and looking for the document. They blow up his lab and attempt to kill Peyton. 

        Throughout the film, Peyton is alive but has severe burns that make him look like the Phantom in the Opera. He slowly gets progressively mad as he wants revenge on the gangsters who ruined his work. This is Liam Neeson’s first action film, given with what he was to work with, he does a good job of showing a scientist who is disfigured and slowly losing his humanity. 

        The overall look of Darkman is also cool looking. Most of the time he is seen with bandages across his face. Which is possibly a tribute to Universal’s The Mummy franchise. He also sports a coat and fedora to cover himself more. Looking at the pictures, I think it was a subtle middle finger to the studios who didn’t let Raimi do his adaptation of The Shadow. His makeup prosthetics also look great. We see that partially his face is burned off and the only thing that is left unscathed is his eyes. 

        For being an original superhero film, the action is the best part. How we see it play out is when we see Westlake going undercover and take pictures of the gangsters and printing out their skin so he can have them killed by their own. It's original and my favorite kill is when Darkman gets one of the goons who was played by Sam's brother Ted. The bandaged hero forces the henchman's head up from the street's sewer and is promptly ran over. My other favorite action scene is when Darkman is in disguise of Durant and the gangsters have no idea who's who. 

2. Universal Tribute 

        As I mentioned before, Raimi did direct and write the film as a tribute to the Universal Monsters. Just the way the hero looks is nothing compared to any heroes you may possibly think of. I would probably say he is a heroic monster. When describing his looks, it appears to be a combination of Phantom of the Opera, Mummy, and Invisible Man when looking at him. 

        Of course, he constructs his second lab to scheme his revenge. When he establishes his new lab, it really has that aesthetic that sort of mirrors the look of Universal’s Frankenstein film. Right down to being that scientist who goes mad. Albeit he tries to regain his sanity when he repeats that he is a scientist. There really is good drama that has Peyton cry over how his girlfriend would react if she saw him. It’s the evolution of Peyton that is the reason why the film works. We seem him as sympathetic, then going through the motions of being a monster and having his payback. Ultimately, being a completely different person where he isn’t emotionally human.  

3. The Carnival Scene

        This is my favorite scene in the film. It represents the whole film and Director Sam Raimi. When Peyton and Julie are at a local carnival, we are bombarded with close ups of the clowns and carnival barkers. It’s one of the only times where we see Westlake being happy with his love. Even though Westlake is using a prosthetic for his face. They profess their love and Peyton goes to a cup tossing game to win his girlfriend a fuzzy elephant. 

        He manages to knock all the cups, except the carnie tells him that he wasn’t behind the line to win the elephant. We then are treated to a series of shots that show just how frustrated Peyton is. It’s classic Raimi, with zoom ins and the background behind Westlake cracking with red cracks. He flips out and breaks the fingers of the carnie and forcefully grabs the elephant. I love it. Not only you see a man slowly losing his sanity, but it’s about an elephant. And really is the point of no return for our hero. 

4. Legacy

        The film was successful financially and has gotten good reviews for its originality. There were sequels but there were made straight to video, with Liam Neeson not returning. There have been comic books of Darkman. Such as Marvel Comics doing a comic book adaptation and a limited series. Dynamite Entertainment brought back the hero and made him fight with another Raimi creation Ash Williams and The Evil Dead. 

5. Overall

        Nowadays, when people think superheroes and Sam Raimi, they immediately think of the Spider-Man trilogy. I feel that this one is overshadowed since Raimi started gaining recognition with his adaptation of the wall-crawler. He is doing another Marvel film, this time focusing on the Sorcerer Supreme with Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Bottom line, I love Darkman. 

        Darkman gets a four out of five.