I have long maintained that in an age when Hollywood seems to have run out of inspiration there is no better place to go then into the past. Not the 80s or even 90s but even further back, the 60s and older. The best movies that should be remade are bad movies, this is no truer then with old b-movies most of which had interesting ideas but were held down by the technical and financial restrictions of the time. This is why remakes of those old movies work so well; 'John's Carpenter's the Thing' is of course the best example but what about Alien? Technically speaking Alien could be considered a remake of 'It! The Terror From Beyond Space', a movie which the filmmakers had seen, hence the term 'a B-movie done A'. Need further convincing? Well then look no further then Darkman. While the plot of 'scientist uses experimental research to take revenge on those who wronged him' is not new this is the first time it is taken to its logical next step and used as the backstory for a superhero. Despite this the movie never sheds its root; throughout the film you can see influences of a lot of old b-movies; The Projected Man, the Amazing Colossal Man and The Phantom of the Opera. In fact the Phantom of the Opera is the most subtle because it manifests itself in a particular design choice; most Phantom of the Opera adaptations have the phantom having a normal face except for the right half which he covers with a mask, Darkman's face is disfigured except for a small part which is on the left. This is no coincidence, director Sam Raimi did have the old Universal films in mind when he made this film and he succeeds in creating an updated looking version of the style. More subtle then Tim Burton's interpretation of the Hammer look for 'Sleepy Hollow'. Raimi also brings his distinct directing style to the project which infuses it with high energy through creative camera work, mind blowing effects (the helicopter chase scene blew my mind) and creative editing. This distinct visual style combines with the sly humour of the film to give it its own personality similar to RoboCop. Then there's the acting; the cast all do a great job but points go to Darkman himself. Raimi wanted to cast regular Bruce Campbell in the role of Darkman but Universal didn't like a relatively unknown actor in the role and so Raimi cast Liam Neeson instead (for Bruce Campbell fans don't worry, he gets his obligatory cameo at the end of the film). This decision was for the best because Neeson knocks it clear into orbit with his performance and manages to situate himself as one of my favourite actors; He goes from tortured to angry to insane to tragic in the space of a nanosecond and still allows the audience to empathise with him. Another thing I want to compliment is the film's content; most times when a film is rated R it feels like they add sex, violence and language unnecessarily. This film is ultra-violent but more in a RoboCop style and the rest of the R content feels natural, nothing feels like it was artificially added afterwards to crank the rating up. The final thing I want to compliment is the music. It's incredible how superhero soundtracks seem to fall into two categories; Danny Elfman or background noise. Despite also being composed by Danny Elfman (does he just compose all Superhero movies scores?) Darkman has a distinct soundtrack which manages to escort the audience on the film's roller-coaster ride while sounding distinct and original. All in all Darkman is a masterpiece; a textbook example of how to rework an old idea and how to make a superhero film. Not for younger audiences obviously but well worth the wait.
Review of Darkman
