Review of Darkman (1990) by Cory T — 07 Oct 2014

Alan Moore could probably lay claim that 'Darkman' thusly plunders the seriocomic origin story of his brainchild 'Swamp Thing' with the trope of an ingenious scientist being scorched by thugs in one of his own experiments and being revived as a freakish hybrid.

On the other hand though, Sam Raimi doesn't squander the property on a shoestring budget ala Wes Craven's chintzy adaptation and Raimi is a certifiable maestro of gallows humor (ex. Liam Neeson shrieking about his "fucking" pink elephant prize while his malleable facial prosthetic is melting away).

Honestly, the ebullient albeit derivative 'Darkman' is Raimi's audition for his 'Spider-Man' gig and it trounces that trilogy by leaps and bounds. He doesn't mock the material (he even rationalizes why the formula is only efficacious at night) and before he was an AARP action hero, Neeson is a superb fit for the disfigured crusader.

Creatively the cinematography during the stuntwork are unparalleled with Neeson's head being smashed continually through glass cabinets during Durant's raid on his lab. The carnival of action scenes is absolutely crackerjack and thrilling with the helicopter-dangling denouement as a centerpiece (Westlake's Road Runner feet atop a truck is a hilarious use of speed ramping).

One drawback is Danny Elfman's operatic score is too reminiscent of his other Tim Burton opuses.