It's crazy that it's been almost 35 years since 'Darkman' came out. Liam Neeson built up quite the action resume later in his career but with director Sam Raimi he got to mix a witches brew of action, thriller & horror elements here first. Ultimately it's the work of those two men and actor Larry Drake as the villain that holds the non traditional almost comic book movie with very outlandish moments together.
Peyton Westlake (Neeson) is a scientist trying to master the creation of artificial skin when his attorney girlfriend Julie (Frances McDormand) locks eyes on a memo linking city official payoffs to mob boss Robert Durant (Drake) and her city developer boss. To retrieve this document, Durant and his crew bust up the doc's lab, disfigure him & blow everything to kingdom come. He survives and plots a revenge with the aid of his tech while holding onto the fantasy that things can be what they once were before.
Though I hadn't seen 'Darkman' since the 90's, I've never forgotten Durant in the annals of memorable movie bad guys. Calm, cool, collected and that cigar cutter which gets put to memorable use in the opening action sequence. Ditto the folding of a carny's fingers all the way back in hilarious fashion. It goes without saying the makeup effects are great and Neeson is able to project some heart into his character. An almost 'Phantom of the Opera' sensibility. The story isn't deep - the finale is pretty predictable - but there's no denying it's still a fun caper.
Peyton Westlake (Neeson) is a scientist trying to master the creation of artificial skin when his attorney girlfriend Julie (Frances McDormand) locks eyes on a memo linking city official payoffs to mob boss Robert Durant (Drake) and her city developer boss. To retrieve this document, Durant and his crew bust up the doc's lab, disfigure him & blow everything to kingdom come. He survives and plots a revenge with the aid of his tech while holding onto the fantasy that things can be what they once were before.
Though I hadn't seen 'Darkman' since the 90's, I've never forgotten Durant in the annals of memorable movie bad guys. Calm, cool, collected and that cigar cutter which gets put to memorable use in the opening action sequence. Ditto the folding of a carny's fingers all the way back in hilarious fashion. It goes without saying the makeup effects are great and Neeson is able to project some heart into his character. An almost 'Phantom of the Opera' sensibility. The story isn't deep - the finale is pretty predictable - but there's no denying it's still a fun caper.