Review of Darkman (1990) by Spangle — 01 Feb 2016

Darkman is a film that is dripping with 1980s-1990s cheese with awful special effects, but manages to overcome that with a fantastic performance from Liam Neeson and a very good superhero origin story.

Directed and conceptualized by Sam Raimi, the film is well-written and well-plotted and does a great job siding you with Neeson's character, Darkman. As a superhero film, it plays out largely as it would in a comic and shows Raimi's willingness to adapt his original character to the conventions of the genre.

While the special effects do hold the film back, the heartfelt and very well designed character and make-up effects do make up for that negative. Plus, the film is so well-directed by Sam Raimi's sure hand that it is nearly impossible to not enjoy this.

A very good time, Darkman is a down-to-earth superhero movie that has a human heart and a human exterior, which makes it all the much better.