Before Sam Raimi was famous for the Spider-Man films, he'd cut his teeth one another superhero movie. Originally intended to be an adaptation of The Shadow, Raimi created Darkman when the rights couldn't be obtained for that character. The result was a strange, quirky film that's part superhero movie, part monster film, and part black comedy. Universal previously released the three films in the series individually, and the films have now been re-released in a handy boxed set with improved transfers. Here's the deal:

Darkman:

Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) is a scientist who is striving to create a synthetic skin that can be used to help burn victims lead a normal life. He's had some success with his formula so far in that when the lights are off the synthetic works just fine. However, in daylight, once ninety-nine minutes have passed, the synthetic will dissolve and then completely disappear.

When Peyton's girlfriend, a lawyer named Julie (Francis McDormand), leaves some evidence in his lab which links a mobster named Robert Durant (Larry Drake) to a construction mogul named Louis Strack (Colin Friels), Durant's men blow the lab sky high with Peyton inside. Though he survives the explosion, his face has been burnt beyond recognition and when the doctors operate on him to try and save him, they sever his nerves so that he can no longer feel physical pain.

Peyton decides to use his synthetic to become Darkman, a super human master of disguise, so that he can get revenge on Durant and Strack for destroying his life and his work. While gangsters might not normally have much to fear from a lowly scientist, with Peyton's newfound resistance to pain and his rather nasty temperament, they're going to find out that they're looking at more than they bargained for.

Long time Raimi fans will get a kick out of a few of his trademark quirks popping up in the picture. Bruce Campbell (who collaborated with Raimi on the three Evil Dead films and who was originally considered for the lead) shows up at the end as does Raimi's tan Oldsmobile. The director himself has a cameo as a doctor in the hospital scene and the deer head from Evil Dead II: Dead By Dawn shows up on the wall in Durant's cabin. Raimi was obviously having fun with the picture and you can see how he took the manic insanity of the Evil Dead movies and pulled it over effectively into a rather dark superhero film with this project.

It's also interesting to see Liam Neeson and Francis McDormand in the film. Who would have thought that a few years later Neeson would be nominated for Best Actor (for Schlindler's List in 1994) and that Francis McDormand would win an Oscar fro Best Supporting Actress (for Fargo in 1996)? With the two of them now widely regarded as excellent performers it's a kick to see them in a movie like Darkman. Both performers treat the film well too, you never once get a chance that they're doing it for the money or that they feel the material is beneath them. Neeson in particular really gets into his part and he does a great job of going completely over the top in a few key scenes.

Much of the film is done with tongue placed firmly in cheek. Raimi has always had a knack for comedic timing, most of his work shows this, and Darkman is no exception. Just try not to laugh when Peyton tells Julie to "take the fucking elephant!" or when he torments a thug by sticking his head out of a manhole on a busy inner city street. This odd sense of humor combined with the kinetic camerawork and fast pace of the film makes for an enjoyable action film with some nods to the Universal Monsters and pulp heroes of the past. The film has its flaws - the blue screen effects really stand out and there are some moments very obviously hampered by a lower budget - but it remains a good slice of goofy fun.

Darkman II: The Return Of Durant

When the first film finished up, it sure looked like Durant (Larry Drake again) had been killed but the fact of the matter is that he was only in a coma. Soon enough, he awakes and once he does he sets his sights on rebuilding his operation only this time, he's raising the bar - he's going to start dealing in stolen nuclear powered weapons!

To make this happen, Durant needs to commandeer a factory currently being used by a scientist to perfect yet another formula for synthetic skin. When Darkman (played this time around by Arnold Vosloo) finds out what the scientist is working on he teams up with him but this partnership doesn't last too long as Durant has the poor schmuck killed in order to scare his sister into selling him the factory. Darkman has to keep the sister alive long enough and keep her from Durant so that she won't sell the factory to him, and he must also expose Durant's plan to the public. Thankfully he'll get some help from a reporter named Jill Randall (Kim Delany) but will it be enough?

Played with slightly more serious intent than its predecessor, Darkman II isn't bad for a low budget sequel. Neeson's absence hurts the film and while Vosloo (best known for his work in The Mummy) does a decent job with the role he can't quite measure up but aside from that obvious detriment and a few quirky effects scenes the movie is at least an entertaining follow up. Plot wise, things don't really differ all that much from the first film. We see a very similar story played out for us (with the origin sequence omitted for obvious reasons) in a manner that isn't quite as hyper-stylish as Raimi's original movie but the pacing is good, the cast is decent and there are a few memorable set pieces and supporting characters. Drake is once again quite fun as Durant and he chews the scenery well and seeing Delaney show up in the film is rather amusing as well.

Darkman III: Die, Darkman, Die!

The third and final film in the series tells the story of Doctor Bridget Thorne (Darlanne Fluegel), one of the surgeon's who operated on Peyton (Arnold Vosloo reprising the role once more) when he was brought to the hospital after his laboratory blew up in the first movie. She tracks Peyton down and tells him that she has the ability to restore the damage that was done to his nervous system so that he'll be able to feel again. Peyton is intrigued by this idea but what he doesn't realize is that Thorne is in cahoots with Peter Rooker (Jeff Fahey), a local mob boss who wants to take some of Darkman's DNA and manufacture steroids out of it.

When Darkman finds out what Thorne and Rooker are up to, he decides to take them down once and for all but as he becomes more and more involved in the case he starts to develop sympathetic feelings for Rooker's wife and daughter.

While it's interesting to see how the story deals with Darkman's emotional turmoil by throwing Rooker's wife and child into the mix, the story this time around is pretty convoluted. Characters are constantly explaining their actions to one another so that we're able to figure out their motivations - it's all spelled out for us in predictably uninteresting fashion and as such, the movie doesn't really work so well. Fahey is fun as the crazed bad guy and Vosloo does alright in the lead but the reliance on clips from the first two movies and the shoddy writing hurt things too much for this to be anything more than a disappointment.

Video:

All three films in the collection are presented in 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transfers. These are not reference quality transfers by any stretch but they don't look awful. The first film is a bit sharper than the other two but there are scenes where the rather dated optical effects don't look so hot (not a fault of the transfer so much as the elements) and fine detail could be better. Color reproduction is fine for the most part and there aren't any problems with mpeg compression. Some light edge enhancement shows up here and there but it's minor and isn't strong enough to hurt anything.