![(source: tmdb.org)](https://www.themoviedb.org/t/p/original/OH3MPYE1cn1y6PLEFZqG5of2qd.jpg)

One thing that separate good superhero films from bad superhero films is the quality of villains. Great protagonists deserve great adversaries. Sam Raimi in [*Darkman*](https://peakd.com/hive-166847/@drax/film-review-darkman-1990) went too far in that direction, creating larger-than-life villain that seemed more at home in that dark picture than its protagonist. To make matters worse, this memorable character was wasted at the end. Sam Raimi was perhaps aware of this mistake and tried to correct it in *Darkman II: The Return of Durant*, 1995 sequel directed by Bradford May.

The plot begins with Robert G. Durant (played by Larry Drake), evil crime lord that apparently perished during the terrible crash in the previous film. Instead, Durant is alive and after years of coma wakes up fully recovered. Slowly, he begins to rebuild his crime organisation and wants to get his hand on powerful laser gun. The only thing that can stop Durant is his arch-nemesis, terribly disfigured scientist Dr. Peyton Westlake (played by Arnold Vosloo) who had invented artificial skin and applied that invention on himself. The only problem with the skin is its tendency to melt after 99 minutes, but this is enough for Westlake to impersonate other people, infiltrate Durant's organisation and try to save the world from his old adversary, this time for good.

Fans of the original film are probably going to be very disappointed by the sequel – the role of title character, originally played by Liam Neeson, was given to Arnold Vosloo; Bradford May's direction is more straightforward, resulting in less interesting shots or less dark humour; budget is much lower and the film lacks grandeur of the original. Yet, Sam Raimi was executive producer of this piece and obviously felt comfortable with such changes. The general audience would feel comfortable too - standard plot (spiced up by some references to 1990s current events like emergence of militia movement or post-Communist realities of Eastern Europe) is quite passable. Vosloo's acting is much subdued compared by Neeson's performance in the original, while Larry Drake again shines in larger-than-life role of all-powerful villain. The film also feature two actresses who would later make great careers on television, but their performances here differ in quality. Renee O'Connor of *Xena* fame is good in somewhat cliched role, while Kim Delaney seems terribly miscast as tough reporter. Despite the low budget, the special effects are fine and because of that *Darkman II* could be recommended as passable entertainment.

RATING: 5/10 (++)



*(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on November 13th 2002)*

https://youtu.be/XfCwDlaZOso

==

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com 
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ 
Cent profile https://beta.cent.co/@drax 
Minds profile https://www.minds.com/drax_rp_nc 
Uptrennd profile https://www.uptrennd.com/user/MTYzNA 

Brave browser: https://brave.com/dra011 

BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7

Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/18998-darkman-ii-the-return-of-durant?language=en-US                   
Critic: AA