Darkman (Film Review)

1990 Universal Pictures
Directed by: Sam Raimi; Written by: Chuck Pfarrer, Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi, Daniel Goldin, and Joshua Goldin
Starring: Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Colin Friels, and Larry Drake
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 96 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 6/10

Dr. Peyton Westlake dated the wrong woman. His girlfriend, Julie, unwittingly represents criminal interests, and when one of those criminal interests' criminal memos is left in her office, Westlake just happens to be the one who is home when they come back for it. The good doctor is beaten within an inch of his life, and horribly burned and disfigured. An experimental procedure kills his pain receptors, deadening the horrible burns Westlake suffered, but also giving him super strength and a super rage to take down his assailants. Westlake just so happened to be experimenting with skin replacement technology before he was disfigured. Now, as Darkman, he can use that technology to make masks, allowing him to disguise himself as anyone...giving him a leg...or an elephant up on his enemies.
1990s Darkman features some fun sequences and direction, some wacky, insane moments, and a solid score by Danny Elfman, but just doesn't come together as well as it should. The issue is simple. As a proposed new comic book hero, Dr. Peyton Westlake, aka Darkman, has abilities that are at odds with one another, making for a disjointed and somewhat unsatisfying film. Westlake's super-strength and imperviousness to pain, along with a striking trenchcoat, fedora, face bandage, and gloves ensemble, make for a highly memorable looking figure and major thrills in a muscular climactic action scene. However, for large portions of the film, Darkman doesn't don his iconic costume, and instead is just disguised as other characters, far more quietly and far more boringly wreaking mayhem. Unfortunately, these two sides of the hero don't feel like they belong on the same coin, and the film's tone and pacing suffer greatly.
As the titular Darkman, Liam Neeson is okay, but doesn't turn in one of his better performances. The usually great, but badly miscast Frances McDormand fares worse, as Darkman's damsel in distress girlfriend who McDormand tries her hardest to not make a damsel in distress (McDormand would later admit this was a mistake). As the lead villain, Colin Friels is mostly unassuming, though more fun when he gets to camp it up. Larry Drake, who camps it up as lead henchman, has a better time with the material. Overall, Darkman is an okay, but not great film that feels like it could have been so much better. No wonder the studio and director never felt like they could get the edit right.