Liam Neeson

Frances McDormand

Colin Friels

Larry Drake

Nelson Mashita

Jessie Lawrence Ferguson

Rafael H. Robledo

Dan Hicks

Ted Raimi

Dan Bell

Nicholas Worth

Aaron Lustig

Arsenio

Said Faraj

Nathan Jung

Professor Toru Tanaka

John Lisbon Wood

Frank Noon

William Dear

Julius Harris

Bridget Hoffman

Philip A. Gillis

Maggie Moore

Carl Bresk

Sean Daniel

John Landis

Carrie Hall

John Cameron

Craig Hosking

Karl A. Wickman

Cliff Fleming

Andy Bale

Neal McDonough

Stuart Cornfeld

William Lustig

Scott Spiegel

Cary Tyler

Charles W. Young

Bruce Campbell

Jenny Agutter

Ethan Coen

Joel Coen

Tau Logo

Josh Becker

Jorga Caye

Christopher Doyle

Troy Fromin

Tony Gardner

Chuck Pfarrer

Sam Raimi

Julie Kaye Fanton

Ivan Raimi

Bud S. Smith

Danny Elfman

Phil Dagort

Joshua Goldin

Robert Tapert

David Stiven

Bill Pope

Grania Preston

Daniel Goldin

Randy Ser

Steve Dunham

Kevin 'Rambo' Fitzgerald

Steve Frakes

Andrea Horta

Susan Exton-Stranks

Tim Durr

Evan Brainard

Darrin Navarro

Michele Poulik

Kurt Grossi

Mark P. Stoeckinger

Jeff Courtie

Scott Meehan

Caleb Chung

Bill Voigtlander

Mark A. Lanza

Scott Martin Gershin

Thomas D. Krausz

Werner Hahnlein

John P. Mesa

Ric Scott

Deborah K. Larsen

Pete von Sholly

Brad Wood

Roger McCoin

Christina Tucker

Tony Jefferson

László Regos

David McKlveen

Christopher Gilman

Janet Kusnick

Doug Beswick

Marcus Tate

John Harrington

Randy Simper

Allan Johnson

Larry Hamlin

Tom Boucher

John Smart

Kim Heath

M. Scott Smith

Wayne Kosky

Gary Drew

Edmond Scott Ratliff

Scott Sproule

Jill Smith

David A. Arnold

Tom Prince

Michael D. Wilhoit

Kathie Weaver

Kevin Hearst

Michael Lawler

Joseph A. Mayer

Dino DiMuro

April A. Janow

Kendall Nishimine

Alan Holly

Pat Carol

Debbie DeRango

John Murray

Neal Burger

Patrick O'Sullivan

Steve Mann

Don Summer

Robert Batha

Jody Fedele

Bob Murawski

Chuck Borden

Allan Graf

Ron Ervin

Issy Shabtay

Patricia Whitcher

Michael Paul Clausen

Thomas Fichter

Gary Frutkoff

Elizabeth Flaherty

Lynda Foote

Dan Wallin

Stacy Ivers

Jeffrey Wilhoit

Darkman Collection

Action

Science Fiction

Thriller

Darkman

Universal Pictures

Renaissance Pictures

United States of America

English

mask

corruption

experiment

gangster

superhero

burn

revenge

los angeles, california

scientist

madness

outsider

disfigurement

conflagration

Enter Darkman.

Sam Raimi’s trial run for the Spider-Man franchise is a whole bunch of fun. Liam Neeson plays Dr. Peyton Westlake, a super scientist who after a major run-in with the villainous Robert G. Durant (Larry Drake), reinvents himself as Darkman, a super-anti-hero who sets about ridding L.A. of its mobsters.

It’s a comic book film that isn’t based on a comic book, Raimi inventing his own tortured protagonist whilst homaging similar beings of eras past. All the silliness of such fare is here of course, overblown violence and colourful characters are frequent, but there’s good thought gone into the revenge theme, while the action sequences are often excellent. The pace hardly sags, as Raimi’s creations move about a Los Angeles that is equally decaying or affluent, and in Neeson the story has a lead actor with swagger, pathos and emotional force in abundance. 7/10

Full Review:
 
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ODe6zr5oNHl6lkcjoOcPB?si=0aad71ce959743a3

I recently rewatched Darkman and there is just so much to like about this movie. In comparison to today's superhero overdose, Darkman just sticks to the basics and tells an incredible emotional and captivating story which is real. No over the top CGI, no storylines forced in by studio producers, not really any characters used just as a device, no cut scenes of blatant Easter Eggs and no political agenda in sight. Comedy is used appropriately and not to undercut the tone of particular scenes and characters.

I really miss these kind of movies in today's superhero landscape. I do like the MCU and how they bought these comic book characters to screen, but after watching Darkman (after about 15 years or so) the MCU are doing so much wrong. I loved you could just watch this movie and not have to worry about what is means to the overarching story or where this story and character fit into the larger universe. It also did such a great job of focusing purely on one character and the journey through the pain he has to go through.

I love this movie, it's one of those movies which will always stick in my memory. It's a real testament to great film making and knowing what works.

This is interesting... this is one of those B-Movie gems that is packed full of pro-talent before they really became pro-talent. And that is right down to the Cohens who did uncredited script polishing.

This is worth the watch, even if you are one of those people that hates B-movies... wrongly hates.

And, it's a comic book movie, it is over the top, it is campy, it packs serious action into a short little plot that still manages to be compelling. The MCU could take lessons on story crafting from this.

Seen this one a few times over the years and while some scenes were really cheesy due to the visual effects of that era, it still is quite entertaining and solid performances from Neeson and McDormand even with some of the overly dramatic dialogue especially from Neeson. Fine way to spend 90-minutes still.

Darkman Trailer 1990 - 35mm - HD

Darkman (1990) Theatrical Trailer

Darkman( 1990)

They destroyed everything he had, everything he was. Now, crime has a new enemy and justice has a new face.

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A review by John Chard

Written by John Chard on Sat Jun 14 2014

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