Scientist Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) is on the verge of developing a synthetic replacement for damaged human skin, but his research comes to a screeching halt when Robert G. Durant (Larry Drake) and his murderous thugs blow up both Westlake’s lab and Westlake himself. Believing him dead, Westlake’s girlfriend, Julie Hastings (Frances McDormand), a lawyer who had uncovered a document that could have incriminated Durant’s boss, moves on with her life, but Westlake soon returns. Unbeknownst to Julie, Westlake is using his artificial skin to mimic the physical appearances of the men who tried to kill him, exacting revenge on them one by one.

CRITIQUE

I didn’t really care for it when I first saw it, but Darkman has grown on me over the years. I was talked into seeing it back in 1990 by my college roommate, who at the time had an unhealthy obsession with the musical version of The Phantom of the Opera (don’t ask) and believed the movie paid homage that story. He attempted to coerce me into going by feeding me some line about the movie’s being reminiscent of classic comic books, and I went pretty much just to shut him up (this despite the fact we had just returned for the beginning of our junior year, which meant I hadn’t seen the girl I was dating at the time for the better part of a month; he still owes me for that).

Anyway, we each left the theater feeling slightly underwhelmed. There wasn’t enough of the tragic, lovelorn hero for him (or maybe it was the lack of crappy, sappy, overbearing show tunes), and I was disappointed by the movie’s constant shifts in tone. But this was my first expedition into the world of co-writer/director Sam Raimi, and since then I’ve grown, if not exactly to appreciate his style, eccentricities, and predilections, then to at least have a better understanding of exactly where he might be headed.

I enjoy Darkman more and more each time I see it, and this time around I had a great deal of fun with it. It certainly doesn’t hide its flaws well (Raimi’s attempts to represent every genre of storytelling known to man is more than a little bumpy), but the movie manages to capture some of the primal, simple, naïve charm that characterized the era of comic books from which it draws much of its inspiration.

I think the movie is best described as a pulp opera. It’s melodramatic, grandiose, and over the top. Its emotions are big, its villains cartoonish. Anything that can be done small is done large, and anything that needs to be done large is pumped up to the point of absurdity. But Raimi is smart enough to make all of this clear from the beginning.

If your movie contains both a villain who uses a cigar cutter to snip off the fingers of those who try to screw him over and a henchman whose wooden leg is actually an automatic rifle, you should probably get right to them away, and Raimi reveals both within the first five minutes. That’s a pretty good indication this isn’t going to be the same old ride, and anyone who doesn’t want to go along is more than welcome to get off the bus before things really get going.

This being the case, it’s no wonder the movie opened well and then took a big drop. This was only a year after Batman (which is even goofier than Darkman, but not in a good way), which undoubtedly colored some people’s expectations. Batman was influenced more by the ‘80s wave of comics (both the good and the bad), while Darkman is largely a throwback to the ‘60s era (both the good and the bad). And speaking as someone who wasn’t there to enjoy the ‘60s books but found himself smack dab in the angst and darkness that dominated the ‘80s (and consequently had more than his fill), I like this movie’s throwback aesthetic.   

It’s a bit interesting to revisit Darkman in the light of Raimi’s blockbuster Spider-Man flicks. At times this movie plays almost like a dry-run for some of the elements Raimi would use in those movies, especially when it comes to Darkman himself, whose persona is quite similar to that of Spider-Man 2’s Doctor Octopus. From the idea of a gifted scientist who loses himself to his dark side right on down to the makeshift, ramshackle lab, the parallels are numerous.

But it’s no big secret Raimi, hampered by a small budget (the visual effects are pretty awful, and the contraption Darkman uses to manufacture his synthetic skins appears to have been cobbled together from parts scrounged from a Xerox machine, a taffy puller, and a lawnmower engine) and constant interference from the studio (the editing process wasn’t a happy time), wasn’t entirely pleased with the final result of Darkman, so seeing him attempt to refine some of the thematic material isn’t surprising. I keeping holding out hope Universal will let Raimi go back and retool the movie, bringing it to the form he originally intended, as that version could be the ultimate Raimi experience. Maybe it will happen one day...

THE VIDEO

The 1.85:1/1080p transfer is slightly above average for your typical Universal catalog release, but it’s still not a complete winner. It looks fairly good overall, but the flaws that pop up become more of a nuisance when you add them up.

The image can be a tad flat at times (some of which is likely inherent in the original photography); grain was undoubtedly exacerbated by the optical processing techniques used in the visual effects shots (check out those smoke-in-an-aquarium clouds), and here many of those shots are practically swarming with grain and digital artifacts.

Colors have held up nicely, and blacks are deeper and richer than I had expected. The level of detail is also better than I was expecting (which often serves to make the effects look that much worse), although it does drop off quite a bit in a few of the darker scenes.

THE AUDIO

Universal has once again given a catalog title the lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 treatment, and the results are once again seriously underwhelming. Nearly ever component of the audio betrays the movie’s miniscule budget and age. Surround action is minimal, and what little there is sounds processed and artificial.

The low end is very weak; the numerous gunshots and explosions have no heft whatsoever. Danny Elfman’s bombastic score (which sounds a little too much like his Batman work for comfort) comes off as screechy and brassy. On the plus side, the dialogue generally sounds quite good. English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 and French Dolby Digital Plus 2.0 tracks are also included. English SDH and French subtitles are available.

THE EXTRAS

Despite the fact the movie’s huge cult of fans has for years been clamoring for a special edition release, Universal seems intent on denying them their wish. The studio’s modus operandi with this movie is to change the cover art every couple of years and forego including any bonus content. This bare-bones release does nothing to change that trend.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Maybe one day Universal will finally break down and give Darkman the treatment it deserves (or at the very least a decent selection of extras and remastered audio and video). Keep your fingers crossed for that one, and in the meantime rent this one