Darkman

Day 297 - 10/24/09 - Movie #297

BEFORE: Another movie about masks, and a mad genius who uses them for revenge. This was directed by Sam Raimi before he directed the "Spider-Man" movies...

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

AFTER: Geez, I feel like I could really tear this movie apart, but I don't know where to start.

Liam Neeson plays Peyton Westlake, a scientist who has created a synthetic skin, and a way to shape it to mimic any person's face, based on photos, I guess with the intention of helping burn victims regain their appearance. But the skin is unstable, and only lasts for 99 minutes in the light - longer in the dark, but then what's the point? You can't see it in the dark...

His girlfriend, Julie (Frances McDormand) is a reporter who's uncovered evidence of government payoffs in the construction business (jeez, there's a shocker) and the thugs involved show up at her boyfriend's lab (even though the movie made a point of stating that they DON'T live together...) and trash the place, horribly injuring Westlake in the process. But however bad they burn and injure him, worse things are done to him in the hospital, where the doctors disconnect his pain receptors - and this leads to him getting super-strength, heightened senses, and a tendency to over-react to emotional situations. Umm, exactly how is all that better than feeling pain, exactly?

Westlake escapes from the hospital, with his face wrapped in bandages, and sets up a version of his old skin-making lab in an abandoned factory. He gains revenge on the mob by studying their cash pick-up schedules, impersonating low-level bagmen to make their pickups, and then framing them for "stealing" the mob's money. However, there's more to impersonating someone then just putting on a synthetic skin-mask. How does he match someone's height, weight, and voice patterns? Especially since his lips got burned off in the accident...

So, believability is not one of the movie's strong points - Darkman also seemed to have gained the ability to pick locks, make fast escapes and fight like a martial arts expert. He watches his girlfriend from afar, like the Phantom of the Opera, crossed with the Chameleon from the Spider-Man comics. But has the accident that deformed his face also twisted his mind?

As stated, Sam Raimi went on to direct "Spider-Man", so this seems like something of a trial run for him - this came out after the first "Batman" movies, and the way Darkman gets scarred is sort of reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's Joker. It's definitely in the superhero vein, just completely unbelievable, even for a comic book. There were two sequels made (direct-to-video), and even though Liam Neeson didn't return, the character was custom-made to be played by another actor, since he can look like anyone thanks to his synthetic skin...

RATING: 3 out of 10 briefcases

SHOCK-O-METER: 2 out of 10 (a deformed face and a few grisly deaths)