Watch Darkman II: The Return of Durant For Free

So much average

Absolutely Brilliant!

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Inferior sequel to Darkman has the look and feel of a made-for-TV movie. It was, in fact, straight-to-video. So you can figure what kind of quality you're looking at here. There's a new actor in the title role (Arnold Vosloo) and he's particularly unexciting. The plot is pretty thin and is just an excuse to have Robert Durant (Larry Drake) return, despite having been killed at the end of the first movie. Larry Drake's campy performance is the best thing about this sequel. "Xena" fans might enjoy seeing Renee O'Connor in an early role. This was shot back-to-back with Darkman III: Die Darkman Die. Neither film is as good as the first. This is completely lacking in any of the craftsmanship or artistry that went into making Darkman.

Bradford May takes over directing duties from Sam Raimi in this sequel, which also sees Arnold Vosloo take over the role of Peyton Westlake/Darkman, who is still trying to perfect his synthetic skin formula, in order to rebuild his life, but that plan is disrupted by the return of Durant, the evil gangster responsible for ruining his life. Durant did not die in the helicopter explosion, but instead survived in a coma, and after he awakens, seeks to rebuild his power by kidnapping an insane genius who can build him a powerful laser weapon.Arnold Vosloo isn't a bad replacement for Liam Neeson(who is still missed) but sequel is pretty standard stuff, with the unlikely survival of Durant stretching things; though Larry Drake is still good, film isn't, though there would be one more, filmed at the same time.

What I remembered about Darkman is that was the toy of Sam Raimi who couldn't play then (a long time ago before CG effects and Spiderman) with brand-name super heroes. It also featured a good score from Danny Elfman. Thus, like a famous beer, it has the entire flavor without the bad sides.Sam leaving the boat as well as the original Darkman (Liam Nelson), the sequel drops consecutively.Even if it isn't the crap of Darkman 3 (even its title is ridiculous "Die, Darkman, Die") this movie isn't totally garbage. It stars the wonderful Kim Delaney! Very sexy, very witted and strong-willed! Unfortunately, she has little screen time! It also stars the fake president from "GI Joe" about twenty years before this blockbuster! The story brings no thrilling ideas but the locations should get attention: Except "Erarserhead", I can't name another movie that takes place in those industrial derelict areas. You don't see downtown or country but huge, deserted warehouses or undergrounds. As it featured gang fights, car chases, it also looks like a bit like the city of the first "Robocop".There is surely a dark, moody atmosphere there but not enough to get a good grade.

Straight to video sequel that lost most of the charm and quirks of the original. The new actor playing Darkman had a beautiful voice but was painfully corny at times. The standout was definitely the journalist (Kim Delaney) and she's in the best moment of the film (you'll know when you see it). The action scenes were far from the quality of the first film but then again, this sequel obviously had a much lower budget. It's a mediocre flick as in very average TV pilot quality, and not painfully bad as the turd, pardon third movie. It's something to see as a curiosity if you liked the first Darkman.Rating: 4 out of 10