I enjoyed Darkman when it first came out. I had it on VHS. But it has been years since I watched it. And I’ll be honest, I liked it much more this time through. I love Raimi as a filmmaker and you can see his always moving camera at work here, as well as his love of unique visual storytelling.

Darkman is very much a comic book. And if you don’t buy into that, then you don’t buy into the film. There are fantastic shots that look like they are comic panels come to life, and some of the action, framing, and shot composition feels that way as well.

Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) is a research scientist hard at work on developing a liquid skin, and he’s close to a breakthrough. His girlfriend, Julie (Frances McDormand) is a lawyer who just unearthed a boatload of trouble.

She’s discovered bribery and corruption in Strack’s (Colin Friels) real estate company. He’s got plans for the city, and he’s working with terrifying mobster, Durant (Larry Drake).

When they ransack Westlake’s lab/home looking for a document, Peyton gets caught in the crossfire, is beaten, burned, and left for dead when the place blows.

Julie believes him to be dead, and tries to get on with her life, but Peyton survived. He’s horribly burned and disfigured, his nerve endings are dead, and the doctor (Jenny Agutter!) shares the exposition that without physical sensation he’ll have depression, rages, and paranoia.

And let’s not forget the desire for revenge.

Peyton, wrapped like a mummy, and with his liquid skin research providing disguises, is intent on hunting down and taking out all those who wronged him. Revenge will be his. Justice is a byproduct.

There’s some enjoyable sequences (think comic books) a fantastic score by Danny Elfman and Neeson front and center throughout, not quite chewing the scenery but close.

It’s loud, it’s fun, it features Raimi’s fantastic moving camerawork, and inspired choices for images and framing.

It’s definitely odd and eccentric. It seems like there are nods to the Universal Monster movies. They tend to be sympathetic characters that are vilified for the way they look, and then for their actions. And Peyton definitely falls into that category.

By the end of the film, he’s had his revenge, and sure his enemies are actually villains, but he’s pretty brutal to all of them. And it’s awesome every step of the way.

The film inspired a couple direct-to-video sequels, but for me, there is just the first and only, and it’s a great ride. A unique ride, and I love seeing Raimi playing in the comic book world with a character of his own creation.

And, of course, there’s Bruce Campbell’s appearance!