Pluskylang Great Film overall

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

calvinnme Raimi had wanted for years to adapt and make a film version of The Shadow. However, the studios he shopped the project around to balked at the idea: He was still somewhat unknown at the time, and there wasn't much confidence behind the comic strip's popularity.Raimi, in response, chose the next best thing--he created his own version, blending elements of the original comic book hero, Phantom of the Opera, and even a little of The Elephant Man for pathos. What came about from it--spawning two very bad sequels in the process--was a film demonstrating a filmmaker's inspiration, but one pumped through his own vivid, wild imagination; and it makes for one of the most original entries into the comic-book movie canon in the last 25 years.Still the studios had no love for this film in its finished form. They slated it for release in August 1990 at the end of the summer release cycle. You know, the same month of the year they released "Coyote Ugly"? But the film was a success garnering almost 50 million on a 16 million dollar budget.Liam Neeson plays Peyton Westlake, a scientist on the verge of inventing synthetic skin from a series of photographs of the subject. Thus disfigured people could wear his synthetic mask and be moved toward a more normal life. Peyton's girlfriend, Julie, a journalist, has found a memorandum indicating a developer she knows made a Mafia payout in connection with a development he is building. She makes the mistake of telling said developer that she has this proof of his crime, but that she doesn't have it on her. So evil developer has his psychopathic buddies go to Peyton's loft/lab, blow up the place while taking the memorandum, and in the process Peyton's assistant is blown to bits. Peyton is burned beyond recognition but lands in the nearby bay.With no ID, as a John Doe, Peyton is given really good treatment by the hospital which takes the drastic step of severing nerves that allow him to feel pain, else he would spend all of his time screaming in pain from the burns. He escapes from the hospital, and meanwhile his assistant is buried as Peyton. You'd think family or friends would come looking for the assistant, but I guess that's another film.So Peyton continues his work on skin regeneration, with his lab now acting as a kind of batcave, and things are urgent because Peyton needs this cure for himself as his face and hands are horribly disfigured. As things are he has only 99 minutes before the artificial skin decomposes. And this works for some good fun for the next part of the film, because Peyton wants revenge on top of a cure. Plus he needs money. He finds a chance for revenge and money by posing as the different people who "killed him" and then just counting on the worst instincts of these thugs - and they have plenty of them - to turn on each other.But then a mistake - Peyton lets Julie know he's alive -wearing artificial skin of course - and that memorandum that was the whole point of ruining Peyton's life? It turns up on a desk, with the coffee stain Julie put there herself at Peyton's loft, right before he died. And now Julie knows Peyton's "death" was no accident. I'll let you see how things work out from here.The real revelation here was Larry Drake as evil Robert Durant. He strokes a small furry pet wearing gloves and an apron that says "Kiss the Cook" while maintaining his collection of human fingers he has taken from people who do not pay their debts to him. The reason he was a revelation? For years before this he had played a mentally handicapped man who has been working at the law firm showcased by "LA Law". It was a kind of last request from his dying mother to the firm so her son would have a purpose in life. To go from that gentle persona to a heartless monster shows Drake had range most people did not think he had.Give it a try. The special effects have aged a bit, but the human factors make it still relevant.

Michael_Elliott Darkman (1990) *** (out of 4) Scientist Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) is brutally beaten and left for dead when a gangster (Larry Drake) pays him a visit after his girlfriend (Frances McDormand) learned of a crooked business deal. Peyton is left deformed and burned beyond recognition so he sets out to seek revenge against those who did it.Sam Raimi's DARKMAN isn't a great film by any stretch of the imagination but there are certainly enough good things to make it worth sitting through. For starts, director Raimi certainly knows how to build up a lot of energy and he certainly handles the action scenes like a pro. The film manages to tell a good revenge story but it also works as an action film that isn't afraid to wink at the viewer and have a good time.There are a lot of references to other horror movies and it's clear that Raimi just wanted to have some fun with the dark character and the over-the-top villain. The violence itself is never graphic as it always stops short of showing anything too disgusting but the violence has a certain comic book nature to it. It's not graphic but you get the pain that the characters are feeling but in a fun way. Technically the film is extremely well-made with some good special effects, some nice cinematography and a ripping score.It also helps that the performances are so good. Neeson is certainly believable in both of his roles. As the scientist he's perfectly believable as this genius and he certainly makes you feel for the character. He pulls off the pain that the character is going through and of course he's very believable during the action scenes. McDormand is good in the role of the girlfriend and Drake nearly steals the film each time he's on the screen. He's certainly one of those old-fashioned villains that would have been hissed at.DARKMAN has its flaws along the way but it's certainly an entertaining movie.

jamariana Those are just a few words I choose to describe Darkman. Watching the film was a great experience - and I'll remember this movie as being one of the movies that make you lose track of time, genuinely interested in what will happen next, and feel like you're somehow "part" of the movie.The story is like a comic-book origin tale, but was written originally as a screenplay. Sam Raimi has excellent direction with this films and manages to do interesting, new things with the action and horror genres.Occasionally some parts of the film seemed kind of amusing and silly, like the melodramatic acting at some points or the visual-effects, but I was seriously engrossed for the majority of the film. It's the perfect length, though I did feel that the ending was a bit abrupt, even though I liked the idea in the conclusion.I would recommend this film about your not-so-average anti-hero protagonist, driven by consuming revenge and resentment for the villainous criminals that did him wrong, to any action film-buff or fan of Sam Raimi. It's certainly one of his better films. Perhaps a perfect rating may seem high for this film, but it simply reflects how much I enjoyed the film.

gwnightscream Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Colin Friels and Larry Drake star in Sam Raimi's 1990 action film. Neeson (Taken) plays scientist, Peyton Westlake who is on the verge of completing a synthetic skin experiment. Soon, he's badly burned and left for dead after a gang of thugs break into his lab seeking a document. Peyton hides in the shadows desperately trying to regain his life and exacts revenge on them and their boss, Robert Durant (Drake) by cleverly disguising himself with their looks. McDormand (Fargo) plays Peyton's girlfriend, Julie Hastings who is a lawyer and Friels plays her crooked, business partner, Louis Strack who is the one pulling Durant's strings. Raimi's brother, Ted appears briefly as Rick, one of Durant's thugs, Director, John Landis and his "An American Werewolf in London" co-star, Jenny Agutter also make cameos along with Raimi and Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead). This a good action/revenge flick with Gothic, comic book and slapstick aspects. Neeson is great as usual, He & McDormand have good chemistry, Danny Elfman's score is great as usual and Tony Gardner's make-up effects are also great. I recommend this.