Darkman (1990)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Sam Raimi

Writers (WGA):

Sam Raimi (story)
Chuck Pfarrer (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

24 August 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

Now, Crime Has a New Enemy, And Justice Has a New Face!

Plot:

A hideously scarred and mentally unstable scientist seeks revenge against the crooks who made him like that.

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Revenge | Mask | Lawyer | F Word

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Liam Neeson	...	Peyton Westlake / Darkman
Frances McDormand	...	Julie Hastings
Colin Friels	...	Louis Strack Jr.
Larry Drake	...	Robert G. Durant
Nelson Mashita	...	Yakitito
Jessie Lawrence Ferguson	...	Eddie Black
Rafael H. Robledo	...	Rudy Guzman
Dan Hicks	...	Skip (as Danny Hicks)
Ted Raimi	...	Rick (as Theodore Raimi)
Dan Bell	...	Smiley
Nicholas Worth	...	Pauly
Aaron Lustig	...	Martin Katz
Arsenio 'Sonny' Trinidad	...	Hung Fat
Said Faraj	...	Convenience Store Clerk
Nathan Jung	...	Chinese Warrior

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Portugal:M/16 | Germany:18 | UK:18 (re-rating) (cut) | Finland:K-15 (uncut) (DVD rating) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (VHS version) | France:-12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (original rating) (cut) | USA:R | Singapore:PG | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

3rd Street Tunnel, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Renaissance Pictures

Trivia:

Cameo: [Jenny Agutter]

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): There is absolutely no scientific evidence to support the doctor's assertions that someone devoid of pain sensations would go insane as a result - people suffering from leprosy commonly lose the ability to feel pain or other touch sensations as their nerves deteriorate but this does not in itself cause any psychological damage.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Eddie Black: [on phone] 'Cause he's an asshole! Tell him no. Tell him no, too. Him, tell "fuck you." No, I'm gonna be here a minute. Got some guy coming up who thinks he's gonna muscle me out of my property. Just another tough guy, that's all.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'The Frighteners' (1998) (V)

Soundtrack:

Give It To Me

a little better in the mind thinking about it more, an above-average masked avenger saga

Sam Raimi, at a definite cross-roads in his career, takes on his first kind of 'major' project (err, bigger than the other films he made in the 80's) and by evidence here he was up to the challenge. But those who come from the Evil Dead films expecting a dark side crossed with some very sick, amazing gags and over-the-top jokes might wonder where the latter is at. It's a kind of realized vision of what was both portrayed on radio in the 40's (the Shadow, Darkman, similar as well as the side villains) as well as graphic novels of the 80's. It's violent, and in a Hollywood 'action' mode most of the time with big explosions, a fairly high body count, and suspense as a man seeks revenge when not completely whole. It also is the kind of pre-film, which may be dumb to say as 'pre' gets overused, but one can see the relation to comics like Spawn, V for Vendetta, and of course the future filmmaker of the solid Spiderman features. At times though he does really walk the line of doing something different with the revenge tale of having it over-done not work. He has the style knacked for it, but as a first time going at it here and there it does get a bit too much.

That being said, those who are coming to this film after having seen most of Raimi's other work get a convincingly B-story to go along with his wild techniques. Liam Neeson stars as a on-the-brink-of-something-big scientist who gets about as horribly close to death as possible after ruthless (rather ruthless in as much comic-book as 80's action-movie) gangsters do "a number" on him and his lab. Assumed dead, he puts his equipment back together, puts on masks of his enemies, and little by little gets back at them while trying to have a connection with his old love (Frances McDormand) connected to all of this as well. With this as the groundwork, and with the two main actors up for the roles- Neeson is very good here in a performance that's got him as tortured leading man ala 30's horror/murder mystery movie- the set pieces allow for Raimi to be creative in his own ways with the camera. I loved one scene where Neeson and McDormand are at the carnival, with the imagery hitting harsh (other freak), and then his frustration over a game. This is a scene emblematic of what Raimi is doing, and does more often than not, with his material.

Darkman is ambitious on that level of the visual, of trying to make a picture that in other hands would be very standard and possibly wretched in dramatic presentation, because it is both original and homage, typical in some ways and notable in others. These two sides may frustrate viewers; I'm inclined almost to say that this is even more 'cult' than Raimi's Evil Dead films. Moments of hilarity do come up sometimes, and it is with some relief when it does come along, though sometimes too the subtle black-comic approach doesn't hit. It's worth a watch though if you're a comic book fan or even just into thrillers that don't kid themselves too much. Up to par with the rest of the director's work? It's close enough, if not really great, but then in its sort of B-movie status, it doesn't need to be as a good time.