30 years after its release, Tom Jolliffe returns to Darkman…
In the wake of Batman, Sam Raimi delivered Darkman to the world. Raimi wouldn’t become synonymous with the iconic videos of comedian e-book heroes until he made the revolutionary Spider-Man trilogy (well, minus the slightly chaotic third). However, Darkman, an original creation of Raimi’s mind, is a twisted edition of the classic comedian’s amiclant’s amiclant’s formula. As a crushed fusion of Marvel and DC, Raimi brought to life an ancient tale of clinical retouching, resurrection, a hero separated from society. Raimi, in fact, was more determined to do an edition of The Shadow, but he may not get the rights. So the logical answer was to invent your own hero. His inability to catch The Shadow was undoubtedly affected by Batman’s massive success. So, where the videos of comedian e-books seemed doomed to failure, there was a wonderful success and the studios were starting to look at those houses (and The Shadow would come 4 years later). Ironically, Darkman was launched through Universal and The Shadow would also locate his home there.
For Raimi, Darkman was also a major first step in a studio film, having basically painted in low-budget films (with Evil Dead 1 and 2, and the peculiar wave of crime). Although relatively small in the budget compared to Batman (Darkman charges $16 million, less than the part of Batman’s charge last year), it was a large amount of cash that put a young director at the best productive known for his cult horror paintings with a distinct style. This background of horror and love for everything related to the film B helped Darkman. Is… Finally, dark … which of course made comparisons to Tim Burton’s film. The story sees scientist Peyton Manning (Liam Neeson) expand artificial skin. At the beginning of the film, he devoted himself to his research, but has not yet perfected a skin capable of permanently maintaining (melting in a few minutes). As fate would have liked, as a gangster prepares to intimidate his wife, instead they locate Peyton and beat him savagely, then blow him up (as well as his building), leaving him for dead… But it’s not like that. However, he is horribly disfigured with the maximum of his irreparable equipment. Peyton can’t master Julie’s (Frances McDormand) technique until she’s perfected her skin and can show her her old face again.
Darkman’s sublime graphics and action made it a popular film that year. He made smart numbers in the box’s workplace and introduced Raimi in a big way. Also at this point, Liam Neeson was more of a character actor who traveled a lot than the main man, and the role was a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, he had directed a studio success. A film with franchise potential. On the other hand, still relatively unknown in the United States, he spends much of the photo with his face wrapped in bandages or under heavy prosthetic makeup. He did not do as much for his visibility as he would have hoped, nor was he ambitious enough to make that leap to a renowned dramatic actor. Of course, Schindler’s list came a few years later, and in fact he saw Neeson’s pole vault on the A-list. It wouldn’t win any Oscars, however, McDormand, who rarely finds himself at the price of a B-movie, has a smart presence here, opposing the same cast as always for the damsel of the struggling action film. It’s pretty impressive to see her in Darkman (and I have to believe raimi’s long arrangement with Joel Coen).
Another detail that made Darkman make many comparisons to Batman was in the music. Danny Elfman’s collaborations with Tim Burton had damaged him. Taking him to Darkman was a stroke of genius and his music, for a while (certainly between Batman, to Spider-Man 2), seemed to shout the comics. If you didn’t have Elfman, you were looking for someone to do something similar (Jerry Goldsmiths’ score in The Shadow is very Elfman-esque). His paintings in Darkman are impressive, atypically explosive and combined with the different images of Raimi and the kinetic paintings of the camera, the music and the symbol combine well.
There are also some wonderful and terrible makeup effects. The film is really charming and is surely complete with the kind of elements (perfectly delivered) that cult video enthusiasts love. Darkman still holds up very well. Cinemas will also love Raimi’s small tributes here and there, adding dizzying, kaleidoscopic moments when Darkman’s anger explodes (he was left unable to feel and susceptible to losing control of his anger). The film doesn’t take herself too seriously either, Raimi prepares to make a laugh movie, even when it’s dark. Mixing those macabre and terrible elements with funny moments is something he has done very well, recalling in particular this exceptional combination in Evil Dead 2 (think of Bruce Campbell’s uninterrupted physical dynamism in the style of Buster Keaton).
Darkman would generate some sequels, replacing Neeson with Arnold Vosloo and feeling much more in line with popular 1990s comedian films, meaning films ranging from a monetary disaster on the big screen or just video. The wonderful good fortune of the first, might have surprised some that Darkman 2 went straight to the video, however, five years after the original, the moment had passed, and monetary problems like The Shadow and Captain America had led the studios to wonder if the audience was only satisfied with Batman on the big screen. Darkman would also appear in comedians (as batman et al), first with Marvel. Anyway, the first film remains one of the most productive of the 20th century era in comedy e-book films. There are many laughs, and Manning/Darkman is an attractive hero, especially played through Neeson. Share your opinion about the film on our social networks @flickeringmyth.
Tom Jolliffe is an award-winning screenwriter and passionate about film. It has a series of DVD/VOD videos around the world and several releases scheduled for 2020/21, adding The Witches Of Amityville (with Emmy winner Kira Reed Lorsch), War of The Worlds: The Attack and The Star-Studded Action. Films, Renegades (Lee Majors, Billy Murray) and Crackdown. Learn more about the most productive non-public site ever seen… https://www.instagram.com/jolliffeproductions/