Darkman (1990)

Darkman: Directed by Sam Raimi. With Liam Neeson, Frances McDormand, Colin Friels, Larry Drake. A brilliant scientist left for dead returns to exact revenge on the people who burned him alive.

“Of all the super-hero movies around, u0026quot;Darkmanu0026quot; is my favourite. An original creation from Raimi, and not based on any comics, u0026quot;Darkmanu0026quot; follows the story of Dr. Peyton Westlake, a scientist about to make a breakthrough in synthetic skin. Peytonu0026#39;s girlfriend, Julie Hastings is a hot-shot lawyer who gets on the wrong side of Robert G. Durant. Durant and his henchmen destroy Peytonu0026#39;s lab, and leave him for dead. Horribly burned and scarred beyond recognition, Peyton uses his uncompleted and synthetic skin to get revenge on those who wronged him – he becomes Darkman.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDarkman has no real super-powers – apart from some increased strength and his inability to feel pain – he uses the synthetic skin to assume the alternate identities, and fights his battles that way. Darkman is not a real super-hero. He makes no pledge to rid the world of evil-doers. He is just out for revenge, and every time Darkman acts, Darkmanu0026#39;s dark-side claims just a little bit more of Peyton. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOthers have mentioned the parallels to u0026#39;Robocopu0026#39;. Iu0026#39;d like to mention the parallels to Sam Raimiu0026#39;s recent efforts with u0026#39;Spider-Manu0026#39; – the two are very similar style-wise, but Peter Parker/Spider-Man is generally pretty happy and cheerful, where as Darkman finds sadistic pleasure in the way he toys with his enemies before finishing them off. u0026#39;Spider-Manu0026#39; is family-friendly, u0026#39;Darkmanu0026#39; is not the sort of movie you would want to show to parents or younger-siblings.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026#39;Darkmanu0026#39; is original, and yet another under-rated classic from Sam Raimi. Check it out if you like Sam Raimi, but avoid if you enjoy the family-friendly nature of u0026#39;Spider-Manu0026#39;. Definitely my favourite super-hero movie, and nearly up there with Tim Burtonu0026#39;s u0026#39;Batmanu0026#39; and u0026#39;Batman Returnsu0026#39;, the best super-hero movies ever.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e7/10”