Review of Darkman (1990) by Jonathan G — 18 Nov 2007

In a world where any good superhero movie is based on a comic book, it's refreshing to see an original creation. It's no secret that Darkman was originally going to be The Shadow, but the look of him is where the similarities end. This, as everyone will rightly and predictably point out, is Sam Raimi's precursor to Spider-Man, albeit darker and more violent. Despite that, there are still similarities evident: Raimi insits on torturing his protagonist to the point of no return (see also Evil Dead) and always makes sure that at some point in the film his actions are questionable. Then there are the tracking shots, the slapstick black comedy (man hopping on one leg) and the nightmare montages.

As a film, Darkman is very entertaining although at times a little too comic booky which adds a certain cheesiness to it that may not be to everyone's tatse, but Raimi delights in this, pulling out every convention in the book and making it Raimi, playing with it like a kid with a new train set. The movie obviously had a limited budget, but the special effects are innovative despite their apparent cheapness and age and they have a certain charm to them. The helicopter set peice near the end of the film is spectacularly realised, paving the way for some of the huge air chases in the Spider-Man flicks. Liam Neeson is suitably deranged in his role with Frances McDormand a little bit wasted here as damsel in distress is a little beneath her. Still, her performance in Fargo a couple of years later cemented her reputation. With some fantastic B-Movie bits and bobs (synthetic skin, Mission Impossible-style disguises) and Danny Elfman's score (which is basically recycled from his Batman score a year earlier) rounding it off, Darkman is a fun and most importantly original comic book style movie with more than enough to satisfy fans of the genre and of the director.