I have been a fan of Sam Raimi's work ever since I was introduced to the original Evil Dead movies (also probably the source of my adoration of horror movies). So naturally I've since tracked down as many Raimi films as I could. It was only recently, last night in fact, that I saw Darkman (1990). It was quite simply awesome.
Darkman follows Payton Westlake (Liam Neeson) who becomes involved in shady zoning deals when his girlfriend Julie Hastings (Frances McDormand) stumbles upon an incriminating document. Payton Westlake, meanwhile, works at a laboratory attempting to find the formula for an artificial skin. Unfortunately he has little success as the artificial skin melts within 99 minutes of being exposed to light. Payton is attacked at his lab and disfigured by an explosion when he is found to possess the incriminating document. As a result of this Payton Westlake looses all feeling throughout his body, and as a result of that his brain seeks greater input through his emotions and becomes a violent vengeful monster. He is now Darkman and dedicates his time to tracking those who attacked him, and trying to reconnect with Julie who thinks he's dead.
On the surface this sounds like a straight forward superhero story where, due to an unfortunate circumstance a man gains superpowers and takes revenge on crime. However Darkman is far more clever then that. Darkman primarily operates using the synthetic skin he has been developing, and though it still is imperfect it allows him to take on the identity of other people for 99 minutes. This is an ingenious inversion of the usual superhero dynamic as most superheroes are people who put on the mask of a monster to become extraordinary and exact justice. Darkman on the other hand is a monster who puts on the mask of a person to appear ordinary and exact justice. The movie also centers on Payton's conflict within himself, and whether or not he can ever be Payton again, or has fully become Darkman. This is also a rather clever play on the usual arc in superhero movies where the hero must learn to balance his personal and crime fighting life. Spoiler Alert Darkman eventually decides that he can no longer function as Payton Westlake, and gives himself fully to the identity of Darkman. This completely throws out the idea of balance between heroism and ones personal life. Incidentally this theme is later revisited in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movies. However unlike Peter Parker Westlake has far more difficulty hiding his vigilante activities as shown in this clip:
End Spoiler Alert
For those of you who actually watched the clip you may have noticed that the scene is completely over the top and silly. This completely ridiculous tone is what endears a lot of Sam Raimi's work to me. The movie is very often completely stupidly over the top, but it still manages to get across the struggle of Payton's identity in a completely straight and serious way. It doesn't take the plot or events too seriously but the drama and conflict is taken very seriously and handled with intelligence and, in some cases, restraint. This is what makes Raimi's movies so fantastic to me. He knows exactly what to play straight, and what to play over the top. His movies fluctuate in tone, but don't come off as disjointed or otherwise unengaging.
Darkman is probably more relevant now then it has ever been with so many superhero, and comic book movies out in theaters these days. It serves as a clever deconstruction of standard superhero movies, and delivers a fantastically dark and comical experience. And of course Liam Neeson is AMAZING as always.
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