Liam Neeson Movie:

Editorial Review:
When attorney Julie Hastings (Frances McDormand) uncovers corrupt city real estate dealings, evil thugs attack her scientist boyfriend, Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson). Left for dead after his lab is detonated, he miraculously survives when the ensuing blast hurls him into the nearby harbor. Treated as a John Doe at a city hospital, he is unknowingly submitted to radical therapy which numbs his nerves to feeling--but which heightens his strength and his emotions. Once conscious, Peyton escapes from the hospital and builds a ramshackle lab in an abandoned industrial plant. Horribly burned and scarred by the lab explosion, he uses synthetic skin to impersonate his would-be murderers and seek retribution for their evil deeds. Peyton also tries to reunite with Julie, who believes him to be dead. While the film has an average script, it is overcome by the flashy cinematography of Bill Pope, the bombastic score by Danny Elfman, and the well-choreographed direction of Sam Raimi. The director confidently walks the line between suspense, action, comedy, and romance as he examines a bitter, victimized antihero who risks becoming as monstrous on the inside as he appears on the outside. --Bryan Reesman

Darkman Reviews:
Good Action
2009-12-09 - I really liked this movie. From the start it was action and kept my attention span,many times I get oh hum before the end of the movie. Good thriller, suspense. I am glad I bought it.

The years have not been kind...
2009-08-26 - In the years since this movie came out.... one of the first gritty , dark comics... moviemakers have honed and sharpened the craft to such heights (The Dark Knight, Hellboy, X-men, Watchmen,etc,etc) that watching this now is the equivalent to watching a hokey, dated version of a 60's or 70's action hero...Moviemakers have thankfully figured out you don't have to use extreme campiness alone to convey a comic to the big screen. Among the flat out bad things about this movie, there is one absolutely MONUMENTALLY hokey, overwrought, overdone, gaudy, campy, tiring and exasperating element to this movie that is so bad, I nearly quit watching from fatigue! The soundtrack. I've probably seen about 500 or so movies and this is the worst music ever. period. hands down. There was an episode of the Family Guy where they spoof a Danny Elfman soundtrack versus the incredibly superior John Williams...I didn't quite get the joke , until I heard this caterwalling disaster of unbelievably irritating music, where nearly EVERY scene has this laughable melodramatic music that goes waaaay beyond shtick and straight to irritation land. Literally drags the movie down to B type shlock. The acting and premise of this movie are decent enough to deserve a do over but with a different producer and definitely someone other than Elfman doing the soundtrack.

Stylish B-Type Super Hero-Revenge Tale
2009-02-05 - For a Class-B type movie and feel to it, it's pretty good....better than I anticipated. I've seen it twice and enjoyed it more the second time. I had forgotten how stylish-looking it was and it was fun to see.

What I did remember were a couple of wild scenes, such as "Darkman" (Liam Neeson) being swung around in the sky on the end of a chain from a helicopter, and the big fire scene early on which turns Neeson's character into the masked hero.

The villains in the movie are over-the-top, leading with Larry Drake's character "Durant." There also is some outrageous Rambo action which stretches way past credibility, such as people shooting from five feet away and missing our hero!

Overall, not as good as the critics would have you believe, but still entertaining. At least it has two quality actors in Neeson and Frances McDormand. Drake went on to play the infamous "Dr. Giggles." If you liked this crazy film, you'll love that one.


pitiful
2009-01-03 - This is a perfect example of the amazon rating system going to hell from If-It-Wasn't-Horrible-I'll-Give-It-Five-Stars reviewers. Aside from the excellent transfer to HD-DVD, this thing is an embarrassment to all involved.

For those not familiar with any of the actors in Darkman, they are quite good actors normally - I've no idea what direction could have convinced them to read the atrocious dialog to the camera as wooden puppets.

The special effects are just horrible, well beyond the age of the film - they were not impressive in concept and unintentionally amusing when they were so poorly executed.

easily on my worst-ten list. If you liked Independence Day and War of the Worlds, this is your show-of-shows, no doubt.


Good movie
2008-11-29 - This was a good movie. And since it was on HD and not on Blu-Ray, it came at a good price. Glad to have it.