Review of Darkman II: The Return of Durant (1995) by Joseph R — 22 Jan 2008

[b]Darkman 2: The Return of Durant[/b].

Released: June 1994 / August 7, 2007.

Director: Bradford May.

Sam Raimi didn't return as the director here, he was the executive producer. Is this a bad sign for Darkman 2: The Return of Durant? Sort of, Darkman 2 doesn't have the same magic like the first one did. Out of all the problems with this one the thing that bothers me the most is the new actor for Darkman/Westlake, Arnold Vosloo. Why change the actor for the sequel to a movie that made over thirty million at the box office?

If you haven't figured it out yet the second Darkman movie deals with Durant, he is back. Thinking he was dead from the first movie we see this crime lord back with one thing on his mind, sell a new powerful weapon to make millions. He thinks Westlake is dead. Why would he think this? I don't understand this, Durant dies and he figures Darkman is dead too. This is the start of the bad things to come with this movie.

The problems with the first Darkman don't come close to the major errors with this one. For starters we have Darkman's face without the bandages. In the first movie it looked awesome and disgusting at the same time, plus his mouth would movie whenever he talked without the bandages. In Darkman 2 his face looks so fake, almost like a Halloween mask you'd find at some cheap costume store. Whenever Darkman talks his mouth doesn't move, it is either opened all the way or closed. Did Darkman have something happen to him that we don't know about because I really doubt they'd let this happen in a Hollywood movie.

Oh it doesn't stop there. The first five minutes of the movie contains a flashback of everything that happened in the first movie. Anytime we would see Westlake's face the camera would move away, the director didn't want anyone to realize that they got a new actor. Oh yeah the it is so hard to notice the difference, the one guy had hair and the new one has a receding hairline, I'm sure nobody will notice. Here is the cherry on top of the sundae, it gets better. Westlake's girlfriend from the first movie is gone, no explanation or anything. The "only picture" had had of himself, with his girlfriend, is no gone, he has a stupid, full face picture, of himself now. What were the thinking? Do they really think everyone is stupid?

Darkman 2: The Return of Durant offers come action but it all seems to be at the end, everything else is boring random shit. There is too much of Westlake with his human face in this movie, I got so sick and tired of seeing him talking to this person and then talking to another person. Darkman 2 also offers a lot of face changes too, I guess people really liked this idea. It's cool but in this one it really isn't as clever, a good thing was taken and ruined. This one did offer some funny moments and some real bad reactions when injured. Darkman throws a guy into a toilet and you can see the actor stop then move his head towards the toilet, making it seem his head hit there. Awesome and funny at the same time, great job guys.

[b]Final Verdict.

[/b]Darkman 2: The Return of Durant is a disappointment from the first Darkman. The actor for Westlake/Darkman is not as good and the acting in general is sub-par. Everything good about the first movie was ruined in this one. Hell certain things from the first movie were thrown away, we are suppose to forget they ever happened. As much as I hate saying it this isn't the worst Darkman movie, the worst is coming up next...

[b]Rating.

[/b]4 out of 10.