In 1990, a little movie by Sam Raimi, who is best known for his "Evil Dead" films and the first live-action Spider-man trilogy, was released called "Darkman." It wasn’t a huge hit, not breaking any box office records, and nor was it particularly well-received, although it wasn’t despised either. "Darkman" is one of those hidden gem movies that deserves more attention than it got.
"Darkman" is very campy and that is what makes it so enjoyable. It knows exactly what it is trying to be, as is the case with almost all Sam Raimi films, and it never takes itself too seriously. It always takes the time to make a quick quip about what just happened, delivering a quick punchline here and there that is always ridiculous. The movie is always so over-the-top that it is hilarious and very entertaining throughout; it keeps your attention and interest for about the whole length of the film. The pacing is very good. It moves briskly forward never dwelling in dull, quiet moments, constantly squeezing in as much as possible into the slim yet agreeable 95-minute running time.
"Darkman" stars an energetic Liam Neeson, who steals the show with a decent performance that portrays the tormented and bipolar character of "Darkman" quite well. Hardly any of the writing is stilted or awkward; even the lines that might be awkward are remedied by their extremity. The soundtrack is phenomenal, being from the ever talented Danny Elfman, although some of the themes sound very similar to the "Batman" or later "Spider-Man" themes that he created. The overall production is very sound, with a great polish and refinement that you’d expect from the vetted Raimi.
The story itself is very interesting, intriguing and clever. A very simple plot moment propels the entire film forward, and the ingenuity of Neeson’s character makes almost every scene following a pleasure to watch. The villains are given a nice setup before the film’s title card even appears, and then the main character has a decent amount of screen time before the major incident. My only gripe was that his appearances before the incident seem a little quick and a little rushed; I think they could have expanded on these a bit more, but overall I didn’t think that was that bad. While I do think that it could have been expanded more, I do think that the running time is the perfect amount for this movie; anything more or less would detract from the story at hand.
Overall, "Darkman" is an underrated superhero movie that deserves more attention. Out of all of the movies in Sam Raimi's line-up, this one deserves more recognition than it actually earned. It is by no means a great movie, but it is definitely far from a terrible one. It is a great example of camp done right, much like Raimi’s "Evil Dead 2;" it is extremely exaggerated at times but still grounded in a sort of ‘slightly off’ reality, much like a comic superhero world would be. It definitely deserves a viewing.
