DVD Review: Darkman II - The Return of Durant

Back in 1990, after not being able to a Shadow film made, Same Raimi did the next best thing; he made his own comic book hero. Of course, Raimi's hero did not have an actual comic book to draw from; this was a comic book movie without the comic book. It proved to be a box office hit, taking in more than $33 million at the box office before finding even more success on the rental market. With that success under its belt, Universal green lit a pair of direct to video sequels, the first bearing the subtitle: The Return of Durant, of course you knew that already having read the title of the review. Well, if we are to follow superhero conventions, the original served to tell the origin tale, the second should tell the first full on adventure of said hero, as well as introduce an archnemesis. Darkman and its sequel prove to successfully follow that formula for success. However, that does not tell the full story, the sequel fails to be terribly compelling, failing in a few key areas.

Let us first quickly cover the story before getting to the problems.

The title says all that needs be said about our bad guy. In the first film, we were introduced to Robert G. Durant (Larry Drake), and while he was not the number one baddie of the original, he proved to have a personality and a presence big enough to fill the role of archnemesis. However, Durant was killed in a helicopter explosion, or was he? We learn early on that the fiery crash merely put him into a coma for a few years. He awakens with a start and proceeds to put his criminal organization back on top, and he will stop at nothing to achieve that goal.

Meanwhile, Peyton Westlake (Arnold Vosloo) has continued his research into synthetic skin, still seeking a way to break the 99 minute barrier. At the same time, he has also become something of an anti-crime crusader. He demonstrates his new calling by getting involved in a drug deal/car chase gone bad immediately following the credits.

As the two stories develop, the two eventually cross paths, reigniting Peyton's desire to have revenge upon the man directly responsible for his current state. Durant is also intent on eliminating anyone who would prove a problem, and Peyton is a big problem to his success.

This eventually leads to a confrontation between the two, spurred on by the involvement of another doctor working on replacement skin, which ties into the scientific side of our hero. Who will walk away? Will this be the last meeting between the two? Watch the film to find out.

Now, I said there were some problems, and I was not lying.

The first was probably unavoidable. Liam Neeson does not return to the role of the deformed Darkman. He is replaced by the Mummy's future baddie, Arnold Vosloo. With this recasting in place, they did a little rewriting of history. In the opening recap of the first film, the reshot some footage with Vosloo taking over the spot formerly held by Neeson. Now, I don't have a problem with Vosloo, I think he is a good character actor, the problem is that they did not even try to match Neeson. I found it a bit disconcerting seeing Vosloo and hearing his accent as Peyton Westlake. Quite frankly, he did not offer the presence nor the scientist-like vibe that Neeson had. They also move the Darkman character into more of a superhero, complete with unique mode of transportation and a secret lair. It did not feel like a natural fit for our hero.

Next up is Durant. Now, this is partially performance, partially writing, and partially character causing the problem. Durant wakes up in a way too over-the-top fashion, sitting bolt upright as his eyes pop open. Then there is the fact that the helicopter crash merely caused a coma, there were no physical effects of the horrific crash. I just found the character to, overall, fell considerably different than in the first. He was more in your face and cartoonish. Yes, he should be cartoonish, but this almost belongs in another film.

Now, a big problem is with the writing. There does not seem to be much heart infused into it. There is a love interest, but the chemistry is non-existent and there is no mention of his first love, Julia Hastings. The foes take way too long to find out about the other, as they go about their individual stories before colliding more than halfway through the film. When they do finally cross paths, the interaction fails to spark the way it should. It doesn't help that some of the dialogue is pretty bad and is delivered with a certain lack of conviction.

Did they get anything right?

Sure, there is still a nice comic book vibe to it. This is definitely one step removed from the funny pages, in a good way. The make-up effects are still quite good. It is not a film I am actively against. Its biggest crime is failing to live up to the excellent original.

Audio/Video. This film is part of the Darkman: The Franchise Collection set released by Universal. This is also the first time the film has been released anamorphically, and it looks Okay. It does not seem to have gone through any extensive remastering, which it could use. The disk is a bit to the dark and some detail is lost.

Extras. The original trailer, full-frame no less, and that's it.

Bottomline. This is not a bad movie, it is not a good movie, it just is. This is the sort of movie you watch right after the original to make fun of, only to realize you like parts of it. Not enough not to continue making fun of, but enough not to be overly mean. As part of the trilogy set, it is worth it.

Mildly Recommended.